A SUMMER OF DISCONTENT IN DOWNTOWN OSHAWA

By Dean Hickey As reports of violent crimes in and around Memorial Park continue, with no less than two stabbings and two violent assaults having been reported since the start of the summer months, councillors voted last week to send in a platoon of maintenance staff, each one of them armed with weed trimmers, to remove low-lying vegetation along the edges of the Oshawa Creek in their effort to make neighbourhoods safer. A report presented to council made no less than five references to environmental concerns in doing this work, leading even the most casual observer to rightfully question the City’s priorities when it comes to the safety of its citizens. All of this comes at a time when residents and businesses downtown are expressing extreme frustration with city hall. One property owner who reached out to me last week offered a rather frank assessment, “It’s just exhausting to have to continually complain and hound and beg to be heard… but nobody at city hall seems to care." One person who does care is Dave Thompson, a long time union representative and local activist who ran in the last municipal election for Ward 4, the area that includes the downtown. He is adamant more can be done. “You have to arrest people who are breaking the law, and for too long we have seen a reactionary approach to policing without an actual plan to combat crime.” Thompson brought forward a plan he refers to as “Cops on Blocks” which lays out a three phased approach to better community policing. “We also need every service agency to come together to develop a cooperative approach at handing the homeless issue, and that should not include the distribution of needles that end up in stairwells and people’s backyards.” On the matter of improved safety and enforcement, councillor Brian Nicholson described the creekside walking paths that run through the city’s downtown as “a disaster” and went on to say that “Too much naturalization has created areas for individuals to literally hide out, with residents saying they no longer feel safe using the pathways, even in the middle of the day.” I reached out to Ward 4 regional councilor Rick Kerr, who has played an active role in trying to make the downtown a better place, whether on the issue of homelessness or the creation of a long hoped for Entertainment District. “I can tell you a lot has been done by way of security cameras and community policing in the last few years, and we even have a team of people who regularly clean up our parks and streets in the city’s downtown. This year we have seen the arrest of over 100 people, including 10 significant drug trafficking suspects, and this involved multiple police divisions who continue to work hard at making our streets safe. We also added a new fire rescue vehicle for the purpose of attending medical calls, which make up a significant portion of incidents in our downtown.” It is known that Council has a ‘no encampment’ policy, which many see as an attempt at simply pushing people along, causing disruption with little compassion, however this is countered by councillor Kerr. “We have a Primary Care Outreach program where a nurse and a paramedic will approach a person deemed to be in need of food, clothing or shelter, and they will be offered as much assistance as can be provided.” No-one could be blamed for suggesting that those with mental health issues, and the many thousands now dealing with drug addictions among the homeless community, should be afforded refuge in a well-organized full service facility, manifestly designed to offer treatment and eventual re-integration into the community. In a recent article in the Canadian Firefighter Magazine, Mayor Dan Carter was quoted as saying “98 percent of the individuals we’re dealing with on the streets of Oshawa have both a mental health and drug issue.” While this may be true in terms of calls involving first responders, it would seem to ignore the men and women who, through economic hardship and plain old-fashioned bad luck, find themselves sleeping under a bridge or in a tent well hidden from the public gaze. The City and the Region share the responsibility of allocating funding, resources, and staffing, therefore the buck stops at city hall when dealing with crime and the safety concerns related to homelessness. One of the options presented to council included the installation of lighting at dead-end streets next to the Oshawa Creek. One has to ask, where are the light standards that should be located along the entire walking path? Why has this aspect of community safety been ignored, or simply pushed aside for so long? Until a new mindset is established within the corridors of power, taxpayer dollars will continue to be put towards make-work projects like clearing bushes in an effort to avoid the real solutions that can actually make a difference. Perhaps it’s time for the Provincial government to turn off the funding tap and take control of priority investments that will truly increase safety and reduce crime. Meanwhile, those who live adjacent to the Oshawa Creek can look forward to the sounds of property maintenance equipment this autumn as city crews attempt to clear some of what they see as an impediment to safety. Let us hope their efforts prove successful. THIS WEEK IN COUNCIL HISTORY 1989 The Oshawa This Week reported on Sept 27 that Councillor Irv Harrell accused Mayor Allan Pilkey of withholding information on the proposed Regional Headquarters development in downtown Oshawa. The issue split council into separate camps, with Councillor Margaret Shaw saying “I’ve never seen anything like this… There are personal attacks… I think it’s very sad.” Hillstone Canada would eventually sign a letter of intent to develop a $250 million city centre on vacant GM land, however the proposal would ultimately die at the Region, where councillors would vote 17-15 to oppose the project. Hillstone pulled out of any existing agreements and the site would eventually become home to two residential towers and a Regional courthouse.