Victoria passes 1st hurdle to approve community safety and well-being plan

CBC

7 hours ago

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City councillors in Victoria have voted to endorse a 79-page plan that aims to address issues around public disorder and a "diminished sense of community safety and well-being."
"[This plan] will set us off on a course of activity that I believe will change the experience of living in Victoria," Mayor Marianne Alto said at Monday's committee of the whole meeting.
"This is a profoundly complex and comprehensive system change."
Alto said voting on the plan was a "watershed moment" for councillors, adding that residents had clearly expressed their concerns about social disorder.
The plan will need to be addressed at a regular council meeting for final approval.
Dozens of recommendations
Staff began to develop the plan in 2023 as part of the city's 2023-2026 strategic plan, under direction from council. The report said it was a result of 18 months of public engagement, data mining, debate and discussion.
The plan includes more than 100 recommendations under eight main categories:
Housing.
Health care.
Service delivery.
Downtown.
Residents.
Commerce.
Policing and justice.
City's community safety and well-being services.
Recommendations include creating more housing for people who are homeless, attracting more family doctors and piloting a universal basic income system.
Other motions related to the plan include directing city staff to assess and identify the plan's budget implications and required policy changes, and directing the mayor to engage with city partners and other levels of government on the plan's components.
Those motions also passed.
Concerns about 'aspirational' scope
The plan comes on the heels of a report from the Downtown Victoria Business Association that claimed hundreds of business owners would consider leaving the city's core if they weren't tied to their lease due in large part to issues with crime and social disorder related to drugs and mental health-related issues.
In their remarks prior to voting on the city plan, several councillors noted that many of the recommendations fall outside the scope of the municipality's jurisdiction.
Speaking with On The Island host Gregor Craigie earlier this week, Coun. Stephen Hammond said he generally endorsed the plan but was worried about the expectations it might set for residents.
"The difficulty is that people are expecting us to do things in which the province and the feds have the ability to spend and go into debt for," Hammond said, referring to issues like housing, mental health and recruiting family physicians.
"There's lots of good things that are aspirational. And then it's just a matter of, can we get the province and the federal government to go along?"
Coun. Marg Gardiner, who voted against the motion to endorse the plan, specifically expressed concerns about the effects of drug and health policies from Island Health and the province
"They are worse than a hurdle. They could scuttle the whole [plan]," Gardiner said at the meeting.
"There is a misunderstanding of the root cause of disorder on our street. The root cause is drug addiction and the failure to provide rehabilitation."
Gardiner said she didn't want to give false hope that the city and the safety plan would resolve those key issues.
At the meeting, Alto acknowledged those concerns.
She said what she and many municipal leaders across B.C. have said repeatedly — that the responsibility of many of the problems plaguing parts of Victoria lies with higher levels of government.
Alto said the city intends to continue working with the province and the federal government on those issues, but it is time to set a precedent.
"We cannot wait any longer, we have a responsibility to Victorians to take action."
No quick fix
Sandra Severs, president of the Downtown Victoria Residents Association and a member of the 10-person community leaders panel that helped shape the plan, said the recommendations may be lofty but they provide a roadmap to work from.
"The solution to many of the problems that we're facing in the city are not simple problems to solve," she told All Point West guest host Liz McArthur.
Severs said safety isn't just about crime and social disorder — it's also about things like access to a family physician and a definition of what it means to feel safe in the place where people live.
Victoria's safety and wellness plan serves as an opportunity to offer solutions, Severs said, instead of just reacting to problems, and to provide leadership for other municipalities dealing with similar issues.