A representative of B.C.’s bar and restaurant sector is critical of a new plan to boost the city’s nightlife, saying it needs more resources.
“We need to have all of those components together, right, you can’t pull out one little component and have a success,” said Jeff Guignard, executive director of the Alliance of Beverage Licensees (ABLE BC).
“We definitely need adequate transit,” he told Global News. “We need to make sure everyone is safe, we need to build something that’s very inclusive, (we) need to make sure it’s diverse. We have a whole lot of things to do simultaneously to make this a success.”
Mayor Kennedy Stewart as well as representatives of downtown businesses and the hospitality and tourism sector announced the creation of a new “Office for Night Time Economy” on Thursday.
The office is to serve as a “single point of contact for Vancouver’s tourism, hospitality and arts and culture sectors to help us innovate faster and help us grow these critical sectors,” Stewart said.
Vancouver police said they will need some more time to look at how this proposal will impact policing.
“We do know that having bigger crowds, no matter where, that does attract more calls for service, more police resources,” Const. Tania Visintin said Friday.
“Having said all that, and once we review this proposal, we will continue to work with the city on how we can (ensure) public safety for everyone who comes into the city to work and for entertainment.”
TransLink said there are no discussions underway with the city to change overnight transit services but it’s happy to have those conversations if needed.