According to Global News, a funeral home in Maple Ridge in Metro Vancouver recently posted on social media expressing concerns about the public order and law and order situation in its community.
In recent years, the security environment in downtown Maple Ridge has deteriorated, and the already small number of businesses have been deeply troubled. The reason for this may be related to the social support housing project that landed in Maple Ridge.
Nathan Logue是殡仪馆Garden Hill Cremation and Funeral Services 的业主。 他近日在脸书上发布了一段视频，展示了殡仪馆外被破坏的花木、散落的泥土和垃圾，以及破碎的窗户。 这是他们几乎每天都要面对的问题。
"It's not something I usually do, but we've tried to get support through multiple avenues and we've made no progress.
If the situation doesn't begin to change, the City of Maple Ridge will lose another downtown business.
My family has been running this business for over forty years and there are always some hiccups with it, but we never complain until today.
We are constantly cleaning up needles, human feces and garbage, and anything else you can think of. These issues are draining our corporate funds and putting unnecessary stress on the grieving families we serve.
We are being devastated day in and day out. In less than a month, 4 windows were broken. We spent a lot of time keeping the environment clean and tidy and making our city beautiful.
Please share to help my family and the families we serve. ”
In an interview with reporters, Logue further talked about the plight faced by the funeral home.
Almost every morning, the employee's job starts by cleaning up the mess. Used needles, human feces, oil, old clothes, and other garbage you can think of and can't think of is disgusting.
In order to keep customers safe, community safety officials provide a lot of help. The funeral home also hired private security guards, but that didn't stop the vandalism.
Logue also said that every business in the neighborhood has reported problems with law and order. He was so frustrated that he decided to post the video online.
Maple Ridge is a relatively remote and quiet town in Metro Vancouver with little commercial activity and a large concentration in the city center. However, in recent years, both residents and businesses have continued to report that the local security situation has continued to deteriorate. The reasons behind this are related to social support housing projects.
Since 2018, three supportive housing projects have landed in Maple Ridge in BC. The Royal Crescent, Garibaldi Ridge and Alouette Heights camps together host about 150 residents. One of the Royal Crescent camps specialises in modular housing. All camps are run by the Coastal Mental Health Authority, which acts as a shelter for the homeless, drug addicted or mentally challenged.
While well-intentioned, these loosely managed supportive housing projects have been fraught with controversy and issues from the very beginning.
These shelters provide residents with a bed to sleep in and a place to put their belongings, but lack a variety of support services.
On the one hand, the health and living conditions of the residents are worrying. Since the establishment of the camp, mental health problems in the local area have increased rather than decreased. In 2022, it was revealed that 12 female and 10 male occupants had died in the past two years, most of them in makeshift modular housing in the Royal Crescent area. Someone died of an overdose in his room and was only discovered a few days later; Someone was beaten to death in his room.
On the other hand, residents who have nothing to do or have mental health problems wander the community, burglary, vandalism, and smashing shop doors and windows. It is not only local residents and businesses that have been affected, but also public libraries in the city center that have been hit hard by the vandalism.
Business in Maple Ridge City was not a boom in the first place. Ninety-three per cent of local tax revenue comes from residential land taxes, while commercial and industrial taxes account for only 7 per cent. Most of the businesses are mom-and-pop shops or family businesses run by local residents.
The deteriorating security environment has forced companies to spend money to address vandalism, including installing more cameras and hiring private security guards. Still, an unsafe environment can discourage customers from patronizing these businesses. This leads to a loss for the business.
At the same time, the municipality had to increase taxes in order to provide policing services, including community safety officers, and it was all local taxpayers who ultimately suffered.
In response, the RCMP in Maple Ridge said they were prepared to increase their police presence downtown.
"Beginning May 22, 2024, the RCMP will work with the City of Maple Ridge to set up mobile temporary policing tents to support local businesses and listen to citizens' feedback on the policing situation. The specific timetable and location of these mobile security posts will be announced shortly.
But as the saying goes, there are only those who are thieves for a thousand years, and there are no thieves who are thieves for a thousand years. For local residents and businesses, what can be done so far is to treat the symptoms rather than the root causes.
Since you can't afford to provoke it, you can only hide.
Take the Logue family's funeral home, for example, a small family business that has been operating there for more than 30 years. Despite their reluctance, now they have to think about moving.
Maple Ridge City Councilman Ahmed Yousef said in an interview that the funeral home's experience is not an isolated case, and that many businesses in the downtown area are suffering. Municipalities need to face up to the problem and find solutions. But the process can be difficult because the causes of the problem are complex, including drug use in public places, decriminalization of drug possession, and more.
Yousef believes that to truly solve the problem, there needs to be a major shift in people's mindsets. Services for drug users and substance abusers should shift to on-demand or compulsory treatment.