The city will spend $1.9 million of the plan's budget to hire a dozen bylaw staff, with a focus on deploying to Pandora and Princess avenues and the downtown area, and working to complement police officers in the area, it said Wednesday in a statement.
The Victoria Police Department will receive $1.35 million to hire nine new police officers
I'm going to guess a huge chunk of that will be spent on training them, basically they have to be sent over to New West for a year so accomadation plus education costs
Nanaimo, B.C., proposes $412K iron fence to separate city hall from nearby overdose prevention site
The City of Nanaimo says it is considering building a 1.8-metre-high fence to protect its staff from what it describes as "congregations" of people, violence and disorder associated with an overdose prevention site next to city hall.
Staff proposing the $412,000 fence cite "intimidation and harassment" of employees, particularly those working early or late, as well as damage to staff vehicles, fires near doorways and building perimeters, human waste and a general deterioration of the site.
Mayor Leonard Krog said in an interview Monday that the municipality had a legal obligation to protect its staff and property, and the final costs may be less or more than the recommended budget.
"Since this relocation, the city has experienced a significant increase in disorder around city hall and SARC," the report says.
"Disorderly behaviour is common both during and outside the facility's hours of operation. When closed, individuals frequently congregate in the parking lots, gardens, and shaded areas around city hall and SARC, leading to considerable safety and operational challenges."
The report says there are "congregations of 20 to 30+ individuals during early morning and evening hours."
"Disorderly behaviour is common both during and outside the facility's hours of operation. When closed, individuals frequently congregate in the parking lots, gardens, and shaded areas around city hall and SARC, leading to considerable safety and operational challenges."
These sites are important for treatment, etc, but its not like the citizens were being outrageous not wanting in their communities, and now City Hall doesnt want it on their lawn.
I wonder who could have seen that coming?
They have to learn to use their Natural Resources accordingly. De-Commissioned Cruise ship moored in the harbor = ideal site.
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Nanaimo, B.C., proposes $412K iron fence to separate city hall from nearby overdose prevention site
The City of Nanaimo says it is considering building a 1.8-metre-high fence to protect its staff from what it describes as "congregations" of people, violence and disorder associated with an overdose prevention site next to city hall.
Staff proposing the $412,000 fence cite "intimidation and harassment" of employees, particularly those working early or late, as well as damage to staff vehicles, fires near doorways and building perimeters, human waste and a general deterioration of the site.
Mayor Leonard Krog said in an interview Monday that the municipality had a legal obligation to protect its staff and property, and the final costs may be less or more than the recommended budget.
"Since this relocation, the city has experienced a significant increase in disorder around city hall and SARC," the report says.
"Disorderly behaviour is common both during and outside the facility's hours of operation. When closed, individuals frequently congregate in the parking lots, gardens, and shaded areas around city hall and SARC, leading to considerable safety and operational challenges."
The report says there are "congregations of 20 to 30+ individuals during early morning and evening hours."
"Disorderly behaviour is common both during and outside the facility's hours of operation. When closed, individuals frequently congregate in the parking lots, gardens, and shaded areas around city hall and SARC, leading to considerable safety and operational challenges."
That guy is unreasonably proud of 15 Police Officers over 5 years. Like he just cant let it go or understand that...it really doesnt mean anything.
__________________ The Beatings Shall Continue Until Morale Improves!
This Post Has Been Distilled for the Eradication of Seemingly Incurable Sadness.
The World Ends when you're dead. Until then, you've got more punishment in store. - Flames Fans
If you thought this season would have a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention.
B.C. premier admits that decriminalizing drugs was a mistake
As recently as last year, Eby was still dismissing critics who said decriminalization would only make everything worse
“I was wrong … it was not the right policy,”
Starting on Jan. 31, 2023, drug users in B.C. no longer faced arrest or criminal consequences if they were carrying less than 2.5 grams of heroin, fentanyl, meth or any of the other illicit drugs covered by the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
Police were not even allowed to seize the drugs of anybody injecting or smoking illicit drugs in a public place.
On Friday, however, Eby said that decriminalization became “a permissive structure” that taught drug users that “it was OK to use drugs anywhere.”
This is not the first time that Eby has said drug decriminalization did not go as planned. During the B.C. provincial election last October, Eby said at a campaign stop that decriminalization “didn’t have the results we wanted to see, just the opposite.”
“It resulted in some real problems,” he said.
Fiona Wilson, deputy chief of the Vancouver Police Department, said decriminalization had gutted her department’s ability to deal with open-air drug use. “We have been raising this issue since before decriminalization. What has happened is exactly what we predicted would happen,” Wilson told parliamentarians.
And yet, that policy ended almost a year ago and basically nothing has changed since. Police still don't really arrest people for possession of small amounts, just like they don't in other jurisdictions. If decriminalization was holding them back, then why hasn't anything been fixed since then?
Open drug use is primarily a real estate/affordability issue, not a decriminalization one. When you have a large homeless population, you'll tend to have more open drug use. For instance, Alberta has basically just as many drug-related deaths and hospitalizations as BC does, which suggests that drug use is just as high. But with lower cost of living, that drug use is more likely to take place in private spaces.
Eby is a pretty good politician though. Unlike a lot of politicians, he can read the room and pivot when it's expedient to do so (see his recent comments on the TFW program).
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And yet, that policy ended almost a year ago and basically nothing has changed since. Police still don't really arrest people for possession of small amounts, just like they don't in other jurisdictions. If decriminalization was holding them back, then why hasn't anything been fixed since then?
Open drug use is primarily a real estate/affordability issue, not a decriminalization one. When you have a large homeless population, you'll tend to have more open drug use. For instance, Alberta has basically just as many drug-related deaths and hospitalizations as BC does, which suggests that drug use is just as high. But with lower cost of living, that drug use is more likely to take place in private spaces.
Eby is a pretty good politician though. Unlike a lot of politicians, he can read the room and pivot when it's expedient to do so (see his recent comments on the TFW program).
Not an Eby fan.
I do like that he was able to admit that his policy didn't work. There are a lot of issues, where the right answer isn't clear and some degree of trial and error is required.
The main issue with these open drug policies that BC has been implementing is that they are a carrot without a stick. I've said it before, but decriminalization only works if you force people into rehab, jobs, etc...
Everyone talks about Portugal as this fine example, but Portugal doesn't just allow people to do what they want. They are giving addicts the choice between jail and rehabilitation options When they refuse the rehabilitation options, they get punted back into the criminal system. Essentially forcing them into parole without the criminal record.
And I agree with others that the cost of living in BC definitely forces more people onto the streets and into drugs. There are always people on the fringe. Calgary, in the 90s, was full of them. Guys who worked random labour jobs, would get a pay cheque, go on a bender, and would find a way to scrape together a few hundred dollars for low income housing. When that low income housing isn't available, these guys go on a bender and stay on that bender.
This isn't for the entirety of 2025, but there was net migration rate of 1,025 people into Alberta, from BC, in Q2. Both provinces are growing rapidly, but BC now has a slight negative net migration.
And yet, that policy ended almost a year ago and basically nothing has changed since. Police still don't really arrest people for possession of small amounts, just like they don't in other jurisdictions. If decriminalization was holding them back, then why hasn't anything been fixed since then?
Open drug use is primarily a real estate/affordability issue, not a decriminalization one. When you have a large homeless population, you'll tend to have more open drug use. For instance, Alberta has basically just as many drug-related deaths and hospitalizations as BC does, which suggests that drug use is just as high. But with lower cost of living, that drug use is more likely to take place in private spaces.
Eby is a pretty good politician though. Unlike a lot of politicians, he can read the room and pivot when it's expedient to do so (see his recent comments on the TFW program).
Incorrect. Police now regularly arrest people for simple possession in BC and seize their drugs when used in public. They are not formally charged for simple possession, but their sobriety is checked and they are offered various assistance from many agencies willing to help. This was not occurring when decriminalizing was in effect.
This warning at the top of story made it seem there would be a lot more swearing than what I found, slightly disappointed by that
[Content warning: This story contains far more swearing than you would expect in an article about municipal governance.]
This isn't for the entirety of 2025, but there was net migration rate of 1,025 people into Alberta, from BC, in Q2. Both provinces are growing rapidly, but BC now has a slight negative net migration.
Edit: just saw your edits. Can you post the link?
Yes, you are all correct. I had misread a chart from Alberta showing net migration by province which showed a small negative for BC. I misinterpreted it thinking it represented Alberta's net migration with each province, rather than each province's own total.
Still, an Alberta/BC net migration of 1,000 people in a couple of provinces with over 5 million people each is essentially meaningless. And to Cliff's point, I'm not sure given the disparate unemployment rates (8.4% in Alberta vs. 6.2% in BC) that there would be a big movement of working age people from BC to Alberta right now.
Yes, you are all correct. I had misread a chart from Alberta showing net migration by province which showed a small negative for BC. I misinterpreted it thinking it represented Alberta's net migration with each province, rather than each province's own total.
Still, an Alberta/BC net migration of 1,000 people in a couple of provinces with over 5 million people each is essentially meaningless. And to Cliff's point, I'm not sure given the disparate unemployment rates (8.4% in Alberta vs. 6.2% in BC) that there would be a big movement of working age people from BC to Alberta right now.
Agreed. 1000 people is a pretty meaningless number when the provinces have a combined population of about 11,000,000 with many transitory people in both provinces to start with.
Anecdotally, I do think people are less likely to settle down in BC, as the cost of raising a family is very prohibitive. I'd like to see stats on it, but, from what I've observed, many people aged 20-35ish move to BC but then many people 35+ move out to settle down in more affordable pastures. While in Alberta, many people 20-30 move out, but often come back, and more people 30+ move to Alberta from BC.
What I find is a lot of Canadians move to BC to give it a try and most of them end up going back to where they came from when they realize the nice scenery isn't worth the lower living standard. The ones that stay out there are retirees that have accumulated a lot of wealth in their home province and can afford to stay.
Last edited by Erick Estrada; 10-08-2025 at 01:11 PM.
