Prince George Mayor Lyn Hall is pleased to see the city drop down in the Macleans Most Dangerous Cities in Canada list for 2020.
The northern capital is listed 14th, down four spots from last year where the city rounded out the top 10.
With a community meeting on the horizon to discuss possible solutions for some of the downtown issues, Hall believes they can use these numbers to their advantage.
“I think we can use these numbers, we can identify within the index where we have made big strides, we can identify the work we need to continue to do and certainly, it there for us to use at the public meeting there’s no question about it.”
Hall states while the decline doesn’t eliminate a lot of the issues plaguing downtown, it’s a good place to start.
“I think when we see us drop another four points from last year’s ranking, that is good news. That’s not to say that we don’t have more work to do and we understand that but everybody is doing good work to reduce all levels of crime.”
He adds the RCMP deserves some credit for its crime reduction strategies after PG was named the Most Dangerous City in Canada during 2011.
“I see significant changes, I see work that was implemented by Superintendent Brown and by Superintendent Wright that’s paying off and our crime reduction efforts are starting to pay off in various categories, I’m very pleased about that.”
Hall is of the opinion the proposed integrated health and housing facility slated for 1st Avenue, can play a part in mitigating the issues downtown.
“I’m not suggesting for a minute that will cure all of our woes downtown but what I am suggesting is that it’s a piece of it. When we can provide housing on one location when we can provide health services in that same location that’s a plus.”
According to the city, over a million dollars has been spent on resources such as bylaw enforcement and clean-up, both in the
downtown and on homeless camps within our parks and green spaces.
The RCMP have increased foot patrols and have closed many locations such as the Lotus Hotel and downtown laundromat.
However, that figure is believed to have eclipsed the $1.5 million mark in 2019.
Hall said he and the council will have to re-open discussions on the matter during budget deliberations in January and February so that can decision can be made.”
“How are we going to handle the expenditures that we’re having to put out to take care of the issues we’re facing. Right now, these dollars are coming out of various operational budgets, so I think as a council we need to look at a separate lined item if you will.”
“The derelict properties we have done a great job in dealing with those, some we have torn down and some that are still standing but are now closed. I think that will alleviate some of the problems but there is more to it, every day there is a little different scenario that comes along that we have to deal with it. This is without question a national crisis and we talk about the opioid crisis and what’s going on across the country, it is just that, a crisis.”
The Mayor is looking to any feedback the community comes up with during their special meeting no matter how big or small it may be.
“This is a big issue and I understand the frustration that people have. I get it, I’m in our community every day constantly in the downtown trying to think of solutions, I appreciate any suggestions even if the suggestion that people give us may not be as good as others, I don’t care, I want to see them.