Safe Streets Bylaw

By Cheryl Jahn

Safe Streets Bylaw

Safe Streets Bylaw report released

Mar 12, 2026 | 3:28 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – It was a gathering of community members who had any connection to downtown Prince George. The City and local social services agencies, all gathered to hear about the conclusion of four years of work by Dr. Joseph Hermer. His work was specific to the Safe Streets Bylaw introduced by the City in August of 2021.

The report, titled “The Complaint is the Crime: an analysis of the Prince George Safe Streets bylaw, January 1, 2022 to September 1, 2025 finds: “Critics of the bylaw charged that it was part of an effort to police unhoused people out of sight, in a way that would be punitive and harmful. The city depicted the bylaw as benign – an “educational tool” for the public – arguing that the bylaw was about targeting “behaviour and not people.”

“The research results that we put out, both by myself and my report commissioned by the BCFN in March showed a pretty dim picture about what was happening, that (the bylaw) was really being used to exclude a lot of street involved and homeless people out of public spaces. But a lot of their belongings and shelter were being taken, destroyed and so on,” says the author of the report, Dr. Joseph Hermer, Chair of Sociology for the University of Toronto Scarborough.

The Chamber of Commerce, though, takes exception to the dismissal of concerns by those impacted, suggesting those who complain about vandalism to their properties, or loitering somehow constitutes a crime.

“It seems a bit much for an academic from the University of Toronto to come to Prince George and tell Prince George residents and employers that they shouldn’t complain about things that are happening in regards to public safety,” says Executive Director Neil Godbout.

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However, he says if the report inspires conversation, great.

“It actually talks about the right things that we need to improve in terms of having a Safe Streets bylaw, the fact that we need more wraparound services and more support for our unhoused population. The Chamber of Commerce has been saying that, Downtown Prince George, the businesses community, has been saying this.”

While the courts had deemed Moccasin Flats untouchable, the Safe Streets Bylaw gave City bylaw officers powers to remove camps like the one formerly located at the corner of George and First Avenue called Mellenium Park.

Dr. Hermer says there has been improvement since the initial report was done.

“I think there’s been some changes, some positive changes. I think by law is respecting people’s belongings and shelter much more. They’ve set up a system where they’re stored and they can be retrieved.”

Ultimately the report concludes that “bylaw officers and city outreach workers do the best with the resources and training they have but the responsibility for reform lies with the mayor and city council.” Ironically, the Mayor Simon Yu is dissolving the Standing Committee on Public Safety next week.