The three Prince George-area MLAs are gearing up to host a forum to help gain an understanding of the ongoing challenges being faced by the business community in the Northern Capital.
During last week’s meeting, Prince George City Council voted to support the MLAs in the venture.
“We’ve heard from many local businesses that public safety and crime is still a major issue,” said Prince George-Mackenzie MLA Kiel Giddens.
“We wanted to have a business-focused event to make sure that as MLAs and as community members, we understand the updated business related crime elements that are happening. We want to make sure we can bring that voice back to Victoria.”
He added they’re hoping to hear from the RCMP, the City, and local businesses.
In terms of what they’ve been hearing from businesses, Giddens said they’ve heard the mental health and addictions crisis has led to continued challenges.
“We also hear about property crime and businesses having to deal with fires and theft and issues like that,” he explained.
“We want to make sure we are capturing those, that we can make sure that we can support businesses how we can, we can improve policies and advocate on their behalf both to the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, and as well to our colleagues in Ottawa.”
Giddens said the overall goal is to gain an update understanding of the concerns so they can tackle the challenges together.
“As a community, that’s the only way were going to improve things, is when we work together on finding local solutions,” he said.
He added they’re hoping to share details on the event soon.
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