Addressing public safety was the top concern for the BC government after three MLAs toured some of Nanaimo’s problem hotspots on Friday.
Minister of State for Community Safety and Integrated Services Terry Yung was joined by local MLAs to understand how to tackle the growing issue of public safety across BC, which has been growing for several years.
Yung says it’s important to see first-hand what businesses are dealing with on a daily basis, if the government is going to have any hopes of understanding their concerns and addressing street disorder, crime and chaos across the province.
“It’s important that I hear from the people, city hall, business improvement people and residents about what unique challenges they’re facing,” he says. “The hope is to also bring balance back to communities. The status quo is not working, and people need to feel safe in their community.”
Yung was a police officer for 30 years, and during that time he says challenges have escalated. He adds the government is going to look at putting in new policies and implementing them in several ways, but there isn’t a one solution for all, and each municipality will handle their issues in their own unique way.
“We can’t arrest our way out of poverty, people being homeless, drug addiction or housing,” he says. “We need to address drug addiction, mental health illness and housing, and also how are we going to get the resources needed.
“Also, once they’ve gone through the process, we need to figure out how we’ll get them employment and training so we can integrate them back into society.”
Since 2022 several organizations across BC, including Save our Streets (S.O.S) and Neighbourhood Network (N2), have been popping up to bring awareness of what they’re calling dangerous provincial policies. Yeung says he has heard the concerns of those groups and residents across the province loud and clear.
He says government needs to step up and do better, but this won’t be an overnight fix, and it will take time.
“The time for action is now, we can’t afford to wait,” he says. “It’s not just a class, people who are poor don’t deserve this.
“People aren’t on the streets by choice, I see the tragedies and loss of life, and to be homeless you’re 19 times more likely to be victims of crime.”
According to the province, in 2024, 2,253 people died from unregulated toxic drugs. It’s a decrease from previous years, but toxic drugs still remain the leading cause of death in the province for people ages 10-59.
Yung says right now the province needs to build more resources to help frontline workers deal with the crisis facing BC municipalities and address the root causes of street disorder, crime, and the drug crisis.
He adds the crisis has been impacting everyone, not just residents and businesses, and the province needs to do better.
“This isn’t fair to first responders, and we don’t have the resources,” he says. “We need to work smart and with different ministries to figure out how we can make people safer.”
Kevan Shaw is the vice-president of the Nanaimo Area Public Safety Association, and he says meeting with Yung has given him hope that the issues surrounding communities in BC will be addressed and heard in the legislature.
Photo credit: Justin Baumgardner, VistaRadio
“They realize the number one issue now is public safety for all of BC,” he says. “Now we want to see the people on the street get into mandatory assessment and get them the help they need.
“I was very happy to hear the government is looking to set up the Red Fish Healing Centre in Coquitlam across the province.”
Shaw adds the addition of experts in the field of law enforcement, and those who have actually dealt with disorder, should help premier David Eby, and the government, gain insight and actually put municipalities’ safety first.
“We’ve got two ministers who are former police officers, one as a minister, and the other as the Solicitor General, so I think we are going in a positive direction,” he says. “I think they’re getting the message.”
Street disorder and crime have always been an issue, but according to several community groups the increase has started becoming apparent to the public after decriminalization started on Jan. 31, 2023.
Yueng was accompanied on a tour of Nanaimo by Shaw, Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction Sheila Malcolmson, and Parliamentary Secretary for Transit George Anderson.
