Policy & Positions Manual
Policy Priority Area - Crime and Public Safety
Assisting the Revitalization of the Urban Street Scene (2009)
The desirability of the province as a place to live, work and invest is directly impacted by the degree to which its residents feel safe. The perception of crime and public safety is a priority for those who live here and for those interested in relocating to BC.
Social issues, crime and public safety erode investor and customer confidence especially in those areas where the marginalized tend to congregate.
Businesses are being negatively affected by the increasing number of “street” or marginalized people and the errant behaviour they exhibit in public. Commercial areas lose viability when panhandling, drug dealing, loitering, low level crime and graffiti become so visible that the perception of a deterioration in public safety impacts customer comfort and investor confidence.
As a society, we tend to focus on symptoms but are reluctant to invest in the causes of these problems. We are only beginning to understand, for example, how strategic investments in enforcement, capacity building and supported housing can reduce the costs for police, courts, corrections, insurance, health care and perceptions of public safety.
Separating the profiles of the street-involved to determine the role of community partners to address these individuals is essential. Those with criminal backgrounds and profiles should be addressed through the enforcement services available in communities, and those experiencing social and personal barriers to inclusion need to be addressed accordingly. The provision of appropriate shelter, both short term and long term with appropriate supports, needs to be the mandate of all levels of government to ensure a healthy business climate.
Poverty is a significant factor in the challenge to decrease the numbers of people on our streets. The level of benefits under BC Employment Assistance may need to be revisited, but an equally pressing issue is the fact that assistance dollars are “clawed back” from individuals who enter the work force. Allowing recipients to retain any income earned through employment until their employment income surpasses their assistance level is an advisable implementation in enabling independence.
The resulting improvement in the business environment for housing the homeless has not been measured in this equation.
THE CHAMBER RECOMMENDS
That the Provincial Government restructure social assistance payments to build in incentives to work based on a formula allowing recipients to retain earned income and diminish reliance on social assistance over time.
