By Chris Beach

Northern View

The Northern View: Crime is out of control

Oct 25, 2023 | 3:18 PM

Crime of all sorts is simply out of control in B.C.

This past week we heard about a major retailer, London Drugs, thinking about shutting down stores across the province, including here in Prince George, due to safety concerns and financial costs of repeated criminal acts in and around their stores.

We also heard about a downtown Prince George businessman suing the City over its failure to protect his business from damages incurred by the explosion a few months ago.

A very astute former politician and successful local businessman asked a very good question here on CKPG a year ago: Are you comfortable dropping your kids off at the new pool downtown? Based on my own experience this past Sunday, no I’m not comfortable because it often feels unsafe.

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The stress and financial hardship that many downtown Prince George business owners have to put up with is, frankly, hard to relate to unless you’re in the same situation. On the other hand, I can’t even imagine what it’s like to live at Moccasin Flats, let alone live near the camp, and witness the ongoing violence and other things that take place there.

The bottom line is that while the Prime Minister criticizes from 4000 kms away, he has done nothing tangible in his 8 years in office to make a noticeable impact on the intertwined issues of homelessness, mental illness, drug addiction and associated crime in B.C.

Similarly, our own Premier Eby keeps saying things like “he feels the frustration of business owners and victims of crime,” and yet these issues continue to spiral out of control. If the provincial NDP and the federal Liberals are unable to muster the political will to make meaningful change; If they’re unwilling to revamp the criminal justice act to give police officers the tools they need the keep the streets safe; If they’re incapable of providing properly funded and effective rehabilitation for addicts who get arrested; If they refuse to start building long-term mental health facilities where many of the homelessness could get the treatment they need and be housed at the same time; Then it’s up to us, the voters, to force the change at the ballot box here in BC one year from now and at the federal level hopefully not much longer than that.

Because the status quo is not acceptable and band-aid solutions are not going to cut it: drastic change is needed, sooner, rather than later.

I’m Chris Beach and this is the Northern View.

Editors note: The views expressed in this column do not necessarily represent the views of Pattison Media.