Downtown businesses concerned as yet another company moves elsewhere

While Fortis BC moved in March, the move has been put into the spotlight now that Fortis is trying to sell the building to Carrier Sekani Family Services. This has downtown business owners increasingly concerned about what this means for their businesses and the state of downtown as a whole.

“When you see large companies like Fortis make decisions like this, it’s going to impact all of downtown,” said Black Clover owner Troy McKenzie.

“It seems like the people that are punished the most are the people that hold real estate businesses downtown,” he added.

Fortis isn’t the first to leave downtown, as other businesses like EDI, Pastry Chef, Commonwealth Financial, and more, have also decided to move business to a safer location. McKenzie says the crime and safety situation is worse than its ever been, and believes something needs to be done quickly before even more businesses leave.

“You see the frustration on the fire department, the police, the paramedics, and the bylaw, we see these guys on a daily basis. When I arrive at work, we’re dealing with stuff on on a daily basis, vandalism, theft, break-ins,” McKenzie said.

City Council says it’s taking several steps to address the downtown issues, including potential big changes like closing Moccasin Flats. City Council plans on approaching the Supreme Court to see if it will overturn its injunction on keeping that land as protected land, which would then allow the City to close the encampment.

“When we go to court and have the injunction overturned and then we can go in and mitigate the Lower Patricia Boulevard Encampment, I believe that will help. The fact that the transitional shelter facility is coming online soon, I think that will help. What’s happening on First Avenue with the supportive housing, phase two of that project, that will help down the road as well, too,” City Councillor Ron Pollilo said.

Beyond addressing crime and safety concerns, Pollilo adds council is also trying to make downtown more appealing to bring more people into the area.

“I think that is going to be a centerpiece to the improvement of downtown with what we’re going to do with the civic core process,” he said.

McKenzie says potentially closing Mocassin Flats is welcome news for downtown businesses, but adds solutions need to come soon as business is only getting harder to maintain the longer the problem lasts.

“It’s a really tough situation. It’s tough for downtown business owners. It’s tough to hear that people are leaving because it makes business less viable for the rest of us,” he said.

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by Tommy Osborne

Downtown businesses concerned as yet another company moves elsewhere

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