More than 200 people called for government action on crime, drug addiction and homelessness today in downtown Nanaimo.
A noon-hour rally was held Thursday, April 26, at Diana Krall Plaza, organized by the Nanaimo Area Public Safety Association, was one of seven held in B.C. cities where demonstrators cried that B次元官网网址渆nough is enoughB次元官网网址� and demanded action on the root causes of increasing social disorder and human suffering.
Clint Smith, a Nanaimo business owner who suffered a gunshot wound in March when he and a group of men tried to retrieve stolen tools from a camp of people experiencing homelessness, said government has failed people and police canB次元官网网址檛 keep up with the increasing numbers of chronic offenders who keep breaching conditions of their release from custody without consequences.
B次元官网网址淧eople canB次元官网网址檛 walk downtown with confidence at without fear or concernB次元官网网址次元官网网址� Smith said. B次元官网网址淲e must demand more. Demand real support for marginalized people struggling with addiction and mental health issues. Demand support for those frontline first responders who are traumatized [by] what they are forced to deal with every day.B次元官网网址�
Smith also called for the end of a B次元官网网址渃atch-and-releaseB次元官网网址� justice system.
Karen Kuwica, a rally organizer, read a letter from Nanaimo mother Andrea Miller, whose child found a bag containing fentanyl on her schoolB次元官网网址檚 grounds.
B次元官网网址淭heir was enough residual substance in the bag that my child had [while] playing with her two-year-old brother, it could have killed them both if they had ingested the substance,B次元官网网址� Miller wrote.
Drug paraphernalia, including pipes, syringes and other items where also found in hedges near where children line up for class, according to the letter.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 terrified and traumatized that I may send my kids to school and never see them again because of something an addict has left behind,B次元官网网址� Miller wrote. B次元官网网址淚 now have naloxone in my home because the drug epidemic is invading the homes and lives of people with absolutely no connection to it.B次元官网网址�
Ruth Taylor, who lives near the former Nicol Street location of the Nanaimo Area Network of Drug Users peer-run overdose prevention site, recounted what her family witnessed when the site operated, including an incident when a man asked about the names and genders of her children, then became so violent he smashed her front gate and had to be arrested.
B次元官网网址淣o charges were laid, to my knowledge, and if they were, we were never informedB次元官网网址次元官网网址� Taylor said. B次元官网网址淚magine your kids playing in the yard after that incident.B次元官网网址�
She said her children have found uncapped needles on their schoolB次元官网网址檚 playground and witnessed people having mental health breakdowns, committing acts of self-harm, overdosing or raging violently.
B次元官网网址淚 have seen public defecation, fornication and, of course, open and extreme drug use and abuse,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淎s a mother, I canB次元官网网址檛 expose my children to that so we just donB次元官网网址檛 go B次元官网网址� this is not normal. Enough is enough.B次元官网网址�
She and her children no longer feel safe going to the downtown library and no longer go to parks in NanaimoB次元官网网址檚 south end.
B次元官网网址淢y children donB次元官网网址檛 want to walk downtown anymore. They are afraidB次元官网网址次元官网网址� she said B次元官网网址淲e are losing our public spaces and our worlds are getting smaller right at a time when I want to give them more freedom.B次元官网网址�
Chrissy Forsythe, Old City Quarter restaurant owner, said she has been a longtime advocate for support for marginalized and drug addicted people and said she has worked with all levels of government for five years with no solution. Dealing with the results of the drug crisis has left her with PTSD.
B次元官网网址淚 have dealt with so much death and overdose and social disorder in my life,B次元官网网址� Forsythe said, breaking down emotionally. B次元官网网址淚 never thought that anything like this could ever happen in our city. ItB次元官网网址檚 absolutely unbelievable what it has done and itB次元官网网址檚 torn our community apart and we need to stop this B次元官网网址� Nothing has changed.B次元官网网址�
She said the B次元官网网址渉omeless industrial complex in British ColumbiaB次元官网网址� is profiting from peopleB次元官网网址檚 lives and government should be ashamed.
B次元官网网址淭o let people live like this on our streets, with absolutely no dignity left B次元官网网址� What do you think that theyB次元官网网址檙e going to do? Nobody cares about them anymore B次元官网网址� We all say that we care, but thereB次元官网网址檚 nothing we can do because everybodyB次元官网网址檚 hands are tied with red tape everywhere B次元官网网址� we need to hold the proper people accountable for these failed policies,B次元官网网址� she said.
Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog, who attended the rally along with some other members of council, was asked by the crowd to speak at the end of the rally.
B次元官网网址淓very government of every stripe has participated in the closing of institutional care and the cessation of the services that people in dire straits needed B次元官网网址� You have to acknowledge thereB次元官网网址檚 a problem. You have to acknowledge weB次元官网网址檙e not going to get out of it very quickly,B次元官网网址� Krog said.
He said money will be needed to build the facilities and to train people to provide assistance and care to get people off the streets and give them the opportunity to live with dignity.
B次元官网网址淏ut you need to keep the pressure up,B次元官网网址� he said.
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chris.bush@nanaimobulletin.com
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