People of the north believe there's more crime than our southern counterparts
And an election event where (some) candidates have confirmed they'll show up
A survey released Sept. 24 shows a majority of respondents believe B.C. crime rates are up — and often unreported — even though official crime data suggest the opposite… B.C. crime rates fell eight per cent during the years 2020 to 2023, according to Statistics Canada.
…
Respondents from Northern B.C., Prince George and the surrounding Cariboo region were more likely to say they believed criminal activity had increased than respondents from southern and coastal regions of the province.
Canseco suggests that drug use and associated crime are now becoming more apparent in smaller communities, as the drug crisis has spread beyond the major cities of Vancouver and Victoria. Residents of these communities may thus see these problems as more novel and alarming, he says.
Eighty-four per cent of respondents in Northern B.C. said they viewed opioid addiction as a health issue, while only 68 per cent of respondents in Prince George/Cariboo held this view.Respondents from Prince George/Cariboo exhibited the strongest preference for punitive measures regarding addiction and mental health, with nearly unanimous support for harsher penalties, bail reform and increased police presence.
“It’s one of the tougher areas in the province … somewhat more cowboys,” Ketchum said about Prince George and the Cariboo region, where his hometown of Quesnel is located. “I think there’s less tolerance.”
The full report is here. In terms of methodology, “The online survey of a representative sample 1,200 British Columbians was conducted from September 9 to 12 by Research Co. The survey has a margin of error of +/- 2.8 percentage points, nineteen times out of twenty,” the survey itself says.
Election roundup
Another all-candidates’ forum is scheduled for UNBC tonight, again focused on environmental issues. All candidates from all three Prince George ridings were invited, those who have confirmed they are taking part, organizers say, are: Shar McCrory (BC NDP), James Steidle (BC Green Party), and Rachael Weber (Independent) for Prince George-Mackenzie, as well as Coralee Oakes (Independent) and Randy Thompson (BC Green Party) for Prince George-North Cariboo. That’s at 6:15.
In the Tyee, Amanda Hollet-Fosgood writes about Green candidate James Steidle’s years of work campaigning to end the practice of glysophate spraying, and where the B.C. NDP and Conservatives stand on the issue.
Independent Coralee Oakes is calling for targeted funding for post-secondary education in rural communities.
In the post-leader’s-debate scrum, John Rustad was asked if he would support a pyschiatric hospital in northern B.C. His quote, which I very quickly transcribed, was “Prince George is a hub, it needs to have comprehensive services.” Prior to this, the Citizen published a story updating where that campaign stands. Eby was not asked about this, but CBC News did reach out to the province for a response to the petition back in August and did not receive an answer. “Instead, it provided a list of investments it has made in mental health and addictions care in northern B.C. in recent months, including a new tower at the University Hospital of Northern B.C. that it says will more than double the number of beds for surgical, mental health and cardiac services.”
And a “Care is Not Forced” rally is being organized here this Friday, pushing back against both the NDP and Conservative plan to expand involuntary treatment.
More of your comments:
On Mr. PG, Brianna Rose writes:
My thoughts on the Mr. PG debacle (though I admit I find it a bit silly overall, when there's more pressing matters money could go to, but I understand tourism is important...)
The idea of having several Mr. PGs that are smaller and in different locations like the bowl, UNBC, College Heights, and The Hart would be more interesting, especially if they were all painted to suit the area. Say, for example, a Mr. PG painted to be in UNBC giftshop apparel, at UNBC.
Akin to spirit bears, but less saturated in how many there would bd, and twice or three times the size as spirit bears. It's be like a tourist scavenger hunt, making people more motivated to visit each area of the city. Mr. PG's "have you seen my brothers?" campaign. Something like that.........
But then, yeah, costs and whatnot, which makes me a bit of a hypocrite for my initial gripe about the ordeal.
However, I'm an illustrator so, y'know.... I may be a bit bias when it comes to opportunities pertaining to Tourist Attractions That Are Customized By Local Artists.
Anyway, that's my thinks and thoughts.
Rikki Holland:
Confused about mayor Yu's comments as we already HAVE a ms. PG, housed in the train storage area of the park! This is ms. PG ERASURE
On our downtown versus Quesnel’s.
E. Lee:
I too enjoy visiting Quesnel especially to buy rye bread and pretzels at the Bakery.
My issue with our downtown is the number of empty and derelict buildings! How long has it been since there was any move to do something with the building on the corner of 3rd and Dominion?
What about the Northern and the old Kelly O’Bryan’s. Prime real estate just boarded up! And so many other buildings as well! Not a great enticement to go downtown and not great for the businesses around them!
Time for their owners and the city to do something to change this
Rylan Graham:
I think your line of thinking is correct! Mid-sized cities, like Prince George, are in an unenviable position. Decades of suburbanization (which comes with the typical national or global chains) undermine the health of the downtown, and opportunities for local businesses to thrive.
More recently it was the "big box stores" but in previous decades it was Pine Centre, Spruceland and other like development. Compare this to the "small city" like Quesnel where suburbanization has occurred at a much slower pace, and as a result, the downtown has not endured as many threats.
Although, the pace of more recent developments at the southern periphery of the city, suggests it is following the same trajectory of Prince George. While there are no doubt a variety of factors at play, consider another small city, Nelson, BC. Over its history, it has resisted the forces of suburbanization.
The result is a thriving downtown and city with a strong local business scene (again, I acknowledge there are other factors playing a role). While "large cities" also face the impacts of suburbanization, they have unique features including well-developed transit systems, major employers, institutions, and a concentration of high-density housing in the downtown that helps to counter the impacts of suburbanization - which continues to draw development into the downtown.
Moreover, they are in the enviable position of having reached the "tipping point" where they have created a downtown environment that people want to be in (while not a "large city," it seems to me that Kelowna is on the verge of getting there). This continues to fuel further change.
Kathryn:
It definitely feels like commercial landlords in PG are a huge obstacle to smaller local businesses thriving in the downtown core. That could be an inaccurate characterization based on my ignorance but I always hear that rents are absurdly high for retail/office space despite the downtown being seen as "undesirable" and no lack of empty spaces. Likewise, whenever a business I love closes, despite being outwardly successful looking, I often hear they closed because they couldn't come to a new lease agreement with the landlord. I've heard that landlords are able to write off losses on empty properties also, which would totally incentivize having empty properties especially as a corporate landlord wanting to pay less tax. Once again! I could be totally misunderstanding the situation.
Love getting your thoughts. Email is northerncapitalnews@gmail.com, or you can leave comments on the posts themselves and discuss with others.
I like how a can of Cariboo is used for scale in this photo.
News roundup:
Here’s some of the post-meeting reporting on Monday’s council meeting:
City council clarifies how new arts funding increase will work.
Lheidli T'enneh Memorial Park playground to be closed, removed, replaced.
Also:
“Tale of two teams” Kodiaks Coach pleased with team’s progression in 2024.
PG Astronomical Society back with open houses and lessons this fall.
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Send feedback by emailing northerncapitalnews@gmail.com. Find me online at akurjata.ca.
PG too large dynamic.
I think Andrew and Darren are both right. Examining one of many dynamics influencing small business economic does not negate the others. We don’t live in a mutually exclusive simple world, despite what populist politicians would have us believe.
I think Andrew’s hypothesis that PG size may be contributing to its lack of independent bakery and hardware stores is valid. However, size isn’t everything (cliche intended) and Darren’s examples (Wall of Fame, Nancy O’s) speaks to this.
It is likely even complicated within the same variable. I’ve been to very large cities with a large number of coffee shops, independent book stores etc. And some of these cities have many large competitors also. Factors such as geographic distribution of residential housing, transportation infrastructure, and demographics play a part. NYC can support a wide range of baked good outfits since it has enough population (and hungry tourists) to float all the boats and then some.