On March 31, a delegation from the City of Terrace had a successful meeting with several provincial ministers to discuss safety concerns raised by both Council and the Terrace community over the last several months. The delegation, made up of Mayor Carol Leclerc, Councillor Sean Bujtas, and Chief Administrative Officer Kris Boland, met with Minister Cullen (Municipal Affairs), Minister Farnworth (Public Safety and Solicitor General), and Minister Eby (Attorney General and Minister responsible for Housing). Minister Malcolmson (Mental Health and Addictions), who was also invited, was unable to attend but sent a senior member of her staff.
The delegation made a presentation that highlighted the challenges with theft and public safety in Terrace. The presentation focused on how prolific offenders are handled in the justice system and how this treatment ends up affecting businesses, who face repeated theft, intimidation, threats of violence, and vandalism, as highlighted in several letters the City received from local businesses and organizations that were used to support the presentation. At the request of local MLA Ellis Ross, the delegation also met with the Liberal Caucus during the trip and gave them the same presentation.
“We were pleased with the ministers’ response to our presentation. They recognized the challenges of attracting Crown Counsel and RCMP staff to rural and remote areas and indicated they are working on how to incentivize people to take these positions. They are aware that communities like Terrace are hubs in their regions that should be recognized as such,” said Leclerc. “They would also like us to reach out directly regarding prolific offenders in the future so that they can be dealt with.”
The delegation presented the ministers with several requests, including that Crown Counsel be assigned to the City’s situation table and that an integrated court program, like those in places like Victoria and Kelowna, be created for Terrace. A third request asked that the Strengthening Communities UBCM funding be looked at using different criteria. “Currently, it is based on population. We explained that our RCMP members have more than double the cases of the provincial average and if we could get 6–8 community safety officers, they would be less expensive than adding additional RCMP," said Leclerc. The fourth request focused on the Northern First Nations Alliance’s request for a detox and wellness centre in the Northwest, which the City of Terrace supports. “We asked that they very seriously consider funding this project,” said Leclerc.
The ministers indicated they wanted to take the City’s requests away to discuss with their staff to see what opportunities might be available, and then get back to the City within two or three weeks. “We felt heard. Not once were we made to feel that our concerns were trivial,” said Leclerc.