“It does strike me that the Prince George Council does seem very reluctant to look at any real options or alternatives.”
That was Doctor Joe Hermer, chair of the Department of Sociology at the University of Toronto, as he released reports showcasing the major issues they found with Prince George’s Safe Streets Bylaw during a media advisory today (Monday).
The bylaw was advertised as an educational piece by Prince George City Council, noting that tickets wouldn’t be issued, but instead, unsheltered people would be informed of where they could, or could not be.
BC Assembly of First Nations Chief Terry Teegee said the report showed that was not the case.
“70% of our respondents said that they did not know what was prohibited under this bylaw, and bylaw officers did not tell them where they could go for shelter or services.”
Hermer, who is an expert on Law, Criminology, and Homelessness, added that the lack of tickets being handed out was not a kindness, and allowed for a lack of accountability from bylaw officers.
“Not issuing tickets is not a humanitarian gesture.”
There was also a report of a bylaw officer making inappropriate advances towards one of the people interviewed for the report.
“This ties to our second finding that women are more at risk. One woman shared a story of the bylaw officer continuing to make inappropriate sexual advances towards her. This is very concerning,” said Teegee.
It was found that the bylaw officer was later fired, but the report found that women experienced more harassment under the bylaw, and would often have their harm reduction supplies taken from them.
Hermer noted that this bylaw also legitimized a blanket prohibition on unsheltered people in the city from public spaces.
Teegee said that addressing homelessness is not something that should be left to a municipality alone, and noted that other governments needed to be involved.
“We consistently offer our assistance to the City in asking for help from the Federal and Provincial Governments, so I offer that assistance once again. And really, it takes all levels of government to deal with the issue of homelessness, and it’s not just Prince George.”
Hermer added that there was something that City Council could do right away.
“Really if there was one thing that I would push for Prince George to do right now, and that is to hire peer mentor or peer witness outreach workers. To resource them extremely well, and to have a morally neutral view of harm reduction.”
Teegee and Hermer noted that it wasn’t just Prince George dealing with these issues and that this is a growing problem nationwide, but Teegee noted that one municipality that seemed to be addressing these problems appropriately was Medicine Hat.
“They haven’t 100% dealt with homelessness, but they have infrastructure and services to deal with some of the de-housed and homeless people in Medicine Hat, and perhaps there’s a really important lesson there on how best to deal with this growing issue.”
One of the main conclusions of the reports was that the Safe Streets Bylaw needed to be stopped, adding that it was disconnected from other major issues like the toxic drug crisis, the pandemic, and a lack of appropriate shelter, housing opportunities, and medical assistance.
Something going on in the Prince George area you think people should know about?
Send us a news tip by emailing [email protected].
