(File photo/Kamloops RCMP).

By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: The quest for a made-in-Kamloops plan to fight social disorder

Mar 5, 2022 | 6:47 AM

IT’S GOOD TO KNOW, sometimes, that we’re not in it alone.

Social disorder on the streets is the biggest topic of public discussion in Kamloops, with everyone trying to find the answers to the joint issues of crime, addictions, mental health, and housing. We look to our municipal and provincial governments for leadership, and it often doesn’t feel as if we’re getting anywhere.

Other B.C. communities, though, are going through the same struggles, trying to fight on all these fronts and make sense of their complex interconnections.

Kelowna is third in the country on the national crime severity index. That’s a measure of the severity of police-reported violations. The Okanagan city is calling for five more prosecutors to chip away at court backlogs. In one horrendous case last weekend, a female security guard at the university campus was beaten to death. Three of four Kelowna homicides last year involved a mental health component, though it must be said that the mentally ill are more likely to suffer violence themselves than they are to cause it.

Kelowna struggles to get enough homeless shelters and goes through the same sort of controversies as Kamloops. They worry about security, needles and people sleeping in the streets.

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In Penticton, shelters were at capacity even as winter was just getting underway. The City dropped a lawsuit against the Province and BC Housing in December after BC Housing agreed to relocate a controversial shelter. In a city where police respond to twice as many mental health calls per capita as in Kamloops, they say they’re “exhausted” from dealing with them.

A pair of homeless camps proved controversial in Prince George, which passed a bylaw aimed at keeping the homeless away from the city’s downtown core. It limits loitering, sitting, sleeping, and panhandling, and has been called wrong-headed and discriminatory by its critics.

One report estimated that about 200 Canadian cities have passed similar bylaws.

Down in the big city, Vancouver endures as many as four stranger attacks per day. Those are the ones in which some nut decides to go after someone on the street, in a fast-food restaurant or just about anywhere, for no reason whatsoever. Sometimes they used their fists; other times a weapon.

In Kamloops, we don’t have many stranger attacks yet, but we’re used to reports of violence. This week, police reported on a man who allegedly brandished a cocked firearm on a city bus.

Meanwhile, proposals for new facilities to house and treat those with complex social issues are branded either “campuses of care” or concentration camps, depending on your point of view.

People are concerned about crime in general. Federal, provincial, and territorial ministers got together for two days last month to talk about it. They talked about guns and gangs, rural crime, hate crime, managing court backlogs, and prioritizing addictions treatment.

“Keeping our neighbourhoods and communities safe is fundamental to providing an environment for people to thrive, grow and prosper across B.C. and the country,” said B.C. Attorney General David Eby, one of the attendees.

He noted the importance of collaboration among all levels of government.

In Cranbrook, a different kind of a summit took place last week — a community summit. The MP, MLA and mayor spoke at the chamber-of-commerce-hosted meeting with about 50 community members and business owners, plus an online audience, to brainstorm on crime and addictions.

A story in e-know.ca, an online newspaper in the area, said the meeting featured some outside-the-box thinking, such as tax rebates for businesses that suffer damage from criminals.

A lot of the discussion sounds very familiar. “BC Housing came to Cranbrook,” said Mayor Lee Pratt. “They put a contract in place to put a temporary housing shelter in. They never even discussed it with the City of Cranbrook. We tried after the fact to have discussions with them; let’s work together, let’s find a proper location for a permanent shelter and it went nowhere.”

Pratt said he’s also complained to Eby about the catch and release culture within the justice system.

“I told him about the Crown Counsel and the judges turning them loose. His answer to me at the end of the discussion after I tore his whatever off for about 40 minutes, was I’ll get into touch with BC Housing and get up to speed on that and he said I’ll have to talk to the Solicitor General.

“So that’s where it comes; it’s lip service. What we need is for these guys (repeat offenders) to be arrested and put in jail and get them the help they need,” he said.

So, clearly, the problem is endemic these days but, as was pointed out at the Cranbrook forum, solutions have to be tailored to each community. That doesn’t mean communities can’t learn from each other, though.

It strikes me that it’s time for a major community gathering to hash things out. We’ve had one- and two-day events in the past on the city’s future; time to get people together to talk about this one very big issue.

Bearing in mind COVID restrictions, get all the agencies together on a stage, have a Q and A, form break-out groups (if that’s practical in these days of Zoom) on specific aspects of the issue, and talk it out. At the end of it, put together proposed solutions and work them into a comprehensive plan.

I find it hard to believe that with all the experience and brain power in a city of almost 100,000 people, answers can’t be found.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.