Following a tour of the area, officials are calling on the provincial government to provide more funds to clean up downtown Kelowna and provide community safety.
BC United Party Leader Kevin Falcon and Westside-Kelowna MLA Ben Stewart walked through downtown Kelowna on Friday to get a first-hand look at the plight of businesses operating there. This tour came after a recent survey released by the Downtown Kelowna Association revealed that crime is up in that area and safety is a major concern among businesses.
“This is something we didn’t see, even a decade ago and now we’re seeing it in every community and unfortunately we’re seeing a lot of social disorder, violent attacks, chaos, random attacks, assaults, thefts,” said Falcon. “It seems to me at minimum the government should take some of the dollars available and help the small businesses to survive in a very challenging time.”
According to Falcon, the concerns surrounding safety, primarily in municipalities’ downtown areas are province-wide issues that are only getting worse.
The survey also revealed that Kelowna businesses are feeling the brunt of these problems. Falcon urges the government to put funds toward cleaning up the downtown area to take the financial burden off small businesses that would otherwise be dealing with the problem themselves.
“To be able to pay for the broken glass, to deal with the vandalism, the graffiti and a lot of the cleaning up of human waste, needles and all the other things they’re having to deal with that shouldn’t be part of a small business person’s everyday existence, but it is and these additional costs are layered on top of an already challenging business environment,” said Falcon.
MLA Ben Stewart echoed those points, adding that this problem cannot go on without a solution.
“Frankly, Interior Health is not doing its job. The government needs to find better solutions to deal with mental health and addictions they need to make sure that we can really truly make some progress,” said Stewart. “People are fed up, business people in the community are just tired.”
Earlier this week Interior Health told Global News that it’s working with the city, bylaw services, and the RCMP, adding that they are listening to businesses downtown regarding their concerns.
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