WALSH – Forum on crime and social disorder offers a chance to engage

MARK YOUR CALENDARS for a good old-fashioned forum where people come out from behind their keyboards and talk to each other face to face.

This Wednesday (June 21) at the TRU Clocktower Theatre starting 6 p.m. sharp there will be a 30-minute film to set the tone for the meeting, followed by short presentations by panelists’, then the floor will open for Q & A. Audience questions will be limited to 2-3 minutes so that as many people as possible have the chance to air their ideas about how we can create a healthier, safer community for all.

Addiction to drugs makes people single-minded and the growing street addiction problem and social disorder is changing the face of our community. Due to crimes and aggression stemming from drug addiction, parents are afraid to let their children play in public parks and seniors now fear walking our streets in broad daylight. Businesses face rising insurance and security costs, while street chaos drives customers away from commercial corridors. Is this ‘the new normal’?

We humans developed our various cultures in order to create communal safety and well-being.

Escalating crime and social disorder was the #1 issue raised by almost every candidate in last fall’s election campaign. Yet, aside from our mayor, our current city council seems to have reverted to the hand-wringing and buck-passing that typified the former council, that I was part of. That is why I am now helping to bypass the constraints of council and get this ball rolling.

The mayor made a motion to ease the high concentration of marginalized people on West Victoria, by presenting a motion to review the city owned 48 West Vic storage facility, for the street-entrenched. Council picked the motion apart, then made a questionable amendment that put the Mayor in conflict to the motion and then sent it to committee, where it seems to have died.

When the mayor made a motion to add 15 outreach workers to help with our street situation, all eight councillors voted it down.

Then he made another motion to fast track a town hall meeting to discuss community priorities, the eight councillors didn’t see the need to accelerate community engagement.

Despite what our city councillors seem to think, open public discussion is healthy. We need to listen to and speak with each other face-to-face and take in as much information as we can.

Because this city council seems to be unaware of the urgency for public dialogue, a small group of community minded people have taken the important and necessary step to hold a public forum on Wednesday, June 21 at TRU Clocktower 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., to allow residents and business owners an opportunity to come together for an evening with a diverse group of panelists, for a community discussion on how to reduce the crime and social disorder, to make the street entrenched folks and Kamloops community safer.

Contrary to some councillor statements, we don’t need a venue that will hold all 100,000 Kamloops residents and yes, some people will want to air their grievances. This is the grassroots speaking. Hopefully, focusing on solutions will keep discussion positive and proactive.

At this forum next Wednesday, we’ll hear from Aaron Gunn, a young talented film-maker calling for peace, order and crime reduction in our communities. Renee Stein and Chris Dornan, both reputable local professionals working directly with at-risk and street-entrenched people in Kamloops, will round out a well-balanced panel.

Maybe people will want to talk about the dichotomy of B.C. decriminalizing opioids while next door, Alberta seems on the brink of adopting a policy of involuntary rehabilitation. Will this drive the more entrenched drug-dependent folks to our province? Should the federal government establish rules governing all provinces, even though all things health have long been solely under provincial jurisdiction?

And what about our justice system? A Manitoba man recently convicted of drug crimes made the news when he asked to be incarcerated at a federal facility rather than the provincial one because the feds offer better rehab resources. Should our province follow the federal model and offer recovery sectors as part of our prison system?

How do we clear the air regarding the rumour that street-entrenched people are bussed to Kamloops from elsewhere? As far as I know, this isn’t the case, but it’s well known there are people here who came for court dates, were displaced from wildfires or were jailed here and chose to stay due to the many supports and social services that our city offers.

On the flip side, some on the street just want to go home but don’t have the cash for a bus ticket. A local person tried to establish a program to provide travel help about a year ago, but it didn’t fly because neither the city nor the province wanted to administer it. Should our local government or our community members step up for this?

If we can’t reduce drug-fuelled crime should our municipal government help businesses pay for security bars on windows and doors? City taxes are already subsidising the costs of broken windows and damage to businesses. Is this the look we want for our city?

I expect many such questions and hopefully many potential solutions to be aired at the upcoming forum. We’re not all going to like what everyone has to say but surely we haven’t lost the ability to respectfully listen to each other.

See you Wednesday.

Denis Walsh is a former three-term Kamloops City councillor. He chose not to run again in 2022, convinced that City councillors should step aside after a maximum of three terms to allow others to serve and to experience being on the “outside looking in.”