Crime was on the mind of a trio of mayoralty candidates who enlightened Port Arthur Rotary Club members on their plans to keep it under control in Thunder Bay.
Mayor Lynn Peterson said the solution has to be a balance between the issue of enforcement and what city council can actually do to affect change.
From the enforcement side, Peterson, who helped forge the city’s new crime prevention committee, said police flexibility is key.
"There certainly is that effort," she said pointing out a number of different specialty teams the Thunder Bay Police Services have formed to battle crime in different ways.
"One is focused enforcement teams. We now have beat patrols. We have traffic units that we want to avoid. We have an Aboriginal liaison unit within the police services. They have school resources, we have Crime Stoppers and we’ve got this great new program called Kids and Cops. We have officers that deal with child abuse, with pornography, with computer crime."
Coun. Frank Pullia, running for mayor for the third time, said when crime first raised itself as a major election issue, he decided to go on a ride-along with Thunder Bay Police.
It opened his eyes to a much larger problem.
"I can tell you that on a Friday night the cell blocks are full. But they are full of people who don’t belong there," Pullia said. "People (struggling) with a mental addiction, homelessness, poverty, substance abuse and all kinds of other problems.
"We need a different level of resource. Putting more police and putting more people in jail – well the jails are already full. It’s not going to solve the problem. This problem should be taken care of much sooner. As mayor I would accelerate the program of bringing 100 beds for an addiction and detox centre that would help these people move away from the streets, where they do not belong, and get the proper treatment."
Candidate Jeff Irwin, in his first major public appearance of the campaign, said when the police chief says there is no serious crime problem, but his officers on the street say otherwise, there is a fundamental problem in the system.
Go to the source, he said.
"We need to start to engage every single police officer and ask them point-blank how they would tackle this problem. They’re the ones who are the experts. They’re the ones who get paid ever day. It’s been my experience we always go to the ones at the top instead of those at the bottom, the guys that are out on the street every day," Irwin said.
The candidates also broached up the touchy issue of First Nations crime, which Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Stan Beardy acknowledged is a problem, one he’d like to work with the city to solve in partnership.
Pullia called Beardy courageous for standing up and taking responsibility for a problem that is whispered about, but rarely dealt with publicly.
"As mayor I would accelerate the program of working with the chiefs in making sure there would be programs for youth at risk. When they come into Thunder Bay they’re not prepared to face city life. We need to help them so they’re better prepared so they will not be the victim of gangs and all kinds of other things," Pullia said.
Peterson said many of the solutions will be found in the new crime prevention committee, and many of them exist already.
"We have lots of agencies out there doing lots of things. But there is no co-ordination of it. There is no focus here. And that’s what the crime prevention council is about. It’s worked in other communities, not only in Ontario, but around the world, and it’s what we’re putting in place here," she said, applying her answer to crime as a whole in the community.
Peterson added she’s very supportive of Beardy’s efforts.
Irwin said the solution can’t rest solely on Beardy’s shoulders.
"I think you almost have to reclaim that section of the city … one block at a time. You do that one thing through education and another thing through making sure those people are at least fed and sheltered. All cities are struggling with this, not just Thunder Bay. In Thunder Bay it may be more acute," Irwin said.
Candidate Keith Hobbs, who has proposed a return to community policing, neighbourhood watch and citizen patrols, was unable to attend the luncheon due to a prior commitment. Candidates Brian Kwasny and Colin Burridge were also not in attendance.
