OPEN ARMS City leaders willing to take in Ukrainian refugees
4
FOX TROT
Statue moving to new downtown pool
Since 1916
THURSDAY, March 24, 2022
PGCITIZEN.CA
5
PRINCEGEORGECITIZEN
City bylaw harming homeless, reports find HANNA PETERSEN
Citizen staff
CITIZEN PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE
TRICK KICK The UNBC Timberwolves men’s soccer team hosted a soccer
tennis tournament Saturday at Northern Sport Centre. For more photos, go to pgcitizen.ca.
The BC Assembly of First Nations (BCAFN) has released two reports which raise concerns regarding the enforcement of the City of Prince George’s Safe Streets Bylaw. The reports conclude that the bylaw is endangering the lives of de-housed and precariously housed individuals in the city. Both reports, one conducted by the BCAFN and the other by Prof. Joe Hermer, chair of the sociology department at the University of Toronto, conclude the use of informal tactics, such as verbal exchanges rather than formal tickets, fosters a systemic lack of accountability and transparency. “The findings of these reports demonstrate a dire and unacceptable situation on the streets of Prince George,” stated Regional Chief Terry Teegee, adding that Prince George’s recent Point-in-Time homelessness report shows 70 per cent of de-housed people are Indigenous. “To put it simply, this research has confirmed our assertions that the Safe Streets Bylaw would be harmful and discriminatory toward unhoused and housing
insecure individuals, most of whom are First Nations. As we have expressed from the onset, this bylaw is counterproductive, cruel, and inherently racist.” The city adopted the controversial bylaw on August 30, 2021, despite opposition from First Nations leadership and local service providers. The bylaw enables bylaw officers to ticket for a number of “nuisance” behaviours like panhandling, using drugs, or lying down and obstructing a doorway. However, while discussing his report titled: “Move On: The First Ninety-Nine Days of the City of Prince George Safe Streets Bylaw” Hermer noted that no tickets were issued during the time period that was studied. He said the bylaw is instead being applied informally in a crude and punitive way that increases the suffering of unsheltered people. Hermer carried out a preliminary examination of 427 ‘workflow’ files or bylaw enforcement events identified by city staff as resulting from the new bylaw. “When responding to complaints bylaw enforcement almost without exception move people on,” said Hermer.
See TIME TO GET RID OF IT, page 3
Gravel miner seeks $500K+ damages from city may have been violated. The two businesses took the issue to court in February 2021, arguing in a notice of claim that the operation is subject to the B.C. Mines Act and not the city’s soil removal bylaw. See BAD FAITH, page 3
Do You Snore? Know the Symptoms, Find the Control, Take back Your Life!
SLEEP APNEA CLINIC www.perfectsleepsolutions.ca
TWO LOCATIONS JAY CAN HELP ##202 - 575 Quebec St. PG 236-423-6244 • 533 Reid St. Quesnel 778-414-8445 Registered Respiratory Therapist
Does Your Spouse’s Snoring Wake You Up?
$2.00
5
southwest of Foothills Boulevard and North Nechako Road. In mid-October 2020, bylaw enforcement officers issued a cease work order over an allegation that work setback limits set out in the city’s soil removal bylaw
00200
The president of a gravel mining operation and concrete factory is now claiming more than $500,000 in damages
from the City of Prince George. The figure is stated in an affidavit from John Paolucci, president of Rock’n’Roll Aggregates Ltd. and Rolling Mix Concrete (B.C.) Ltd., in relation to a long-running dispute with the city over the operation
58307
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
0
MARK NIELSEN