Carrying signs with slogans including “judges get tough,” “afraid to go out” and “fed up victims”, Nanaimo business owners and residents gathered outside the city’s courthouse midday Wednesday to call for tougher responses to crime and more action on ongoing social problems in the community.
The rally follows the fatal apparently random stabbing of a 29-year-old man on Sept. 5 in the waterfront Maffeo Sutton Park. A 19-year old man is facing a charge of second-degree murder and is in custody prior to his next court appearance on Sept. 20.
Concerns about crime in the downtown have increased as the number of people without without homes grows, many of them struggling with addiction and mental-health issues.
Willow Friday, owner of Iron Oxide Art Supplies at 5 Victoria Rd., was among the 100-plus people at what she said was a grassroots event.
On Tuesday, she said, a customer phoned the store to say she had come downtown with the intention of going to the store but didn’t feel safe getting out of her car and left.
Friday, who has been in business for 20 years, said the judicial system is failing because it does not keep people in custody even when they harm somebody.
Nanaimo is dealing with an unprecedented level of crime and opiate use, she said. “You know this is a very new thing in our society and we need to create systems that truly help people.”
Senior governments need to put money into facilities to address serious problems on city streets, she said.
The province has funded four sobering and assessment beds and four stabilization beds this year in Nanaimo. Last month, it announced that 30 new complex-care spaces for people dealing with mental-health and substance-abuse challenges will be opened in the city as well.
More beds are needed immediately, said Friday, who said she frequently deals with people with severe mental-health issues who come into the store.
Friday said she tries to be kind while walking them to the door and showing them where they can receive assistance. “This is not really a new thing but it has gotten a lot worse.”
The City of Nanaimo is doing all that it can, said Friday, who calls a new 12-person team of community safety officers “angels.”
Between 500 and 600 people are living without homes on the street and in the woods, and services are needed, she said.
“There’s a big portion of them who would like to get their lives back,” she said. “I want people to get help.”
