Moncton business owners want homelessness supports removed from downtown core within 30 days
The message at the forefront of Tuesday morning’s meeting was united among the group of five panelists at the front of the room: supports for unhoused people aren’t welcome in Moncton's business district
With around 20 people in attendance, business owners and residents spoke out about their concerns surrounding Moncton’s downtown and put forward an urgent call for action.
“For the past few years, the business community has been actively involved and lobbying city council to start taking action, and the request today was to remove the shelter services out of the BIA,” said Thierry Le Bouthillier, a downtown business owner.
Le Bouthillier says the Business Improvement Area, or BIA, is the heartbeat to every city and claims the current situation in the city’s downtown is now affecting their livelihood.
“This is where we do business, this is where our tourism comes in, our hotel, our hospitality, our restaurants and to inject shelter services directly into where we do business, as a downtown… does not work,” he said.
Not only did members from the business community come forward with a specific ask for the City of Moncton, but also with a specific timeline.
“The city opened up a shelter in 14 days back in December. One of our requests is for the city to relocate that shelter to a more appropriate zone in less than 30 days,” he said. “If the city can open a shelter in 14 days, they can relocate one in 30 days.”
Among those in the audience were a few city councillors, including Charles Léger, who pointed out that the province plays a huge role in the services that are available to the homeless population.
“I think that from a councillor perspective, we are waiting on the province to let us know exactly what their long-term plans are related to mental health, addictions, homelessness, and then once we have that, we’ll be in a much better position to be able to indicate what the next steps are,” he said.
Léger added that the province is expected to share their plans by the end of April, when the emergency homeless shelter is set to close.
While the province wasn’t at the meeting on Tuesday, Léger does believe this is a first step in everyone working together to find solutions.
“As a municipality, these are challenges, I admit, and I think what came out of this today is we can work together,” he said. “There have been a number of different initiatives to date, although it’s never enough, but I do believe that these types of conversations are useful.”
Also sitting on the panel Tuesday morning was Moncton resident Allain Robichaud, who tried to bring a different perspective as a person who has been living downtown for 20 years now.
“When I moved downtown, simply, the homeless population was under 50,” he said. “I would say now, the last numbers that we heard, they’re not maybe official, but I think it’s over 700.”
He adds that safety is becoming one of the biggest concerns and people definitely don’t feel as secure as they used to.
“The only thing we want is we want downtown to be a lovely place to live and place to raise your family and people that want to come downtown, but a lot of people are scared. They don’t want to come downtown anymore because of the crime rate,” he said.
Calling on all levels of government, Robichaud says both local officials and higher levels of government have a part to play.
“Obviously the province needs to step up,” he said.
“We know we need more funding for detox because that’s a huge issue right now. There is a drug addiction pandemic problem and we need the province to inject more money into mental health also and just to maybe think about relocation, decentralization, some of these services because we create an environment right now that’s a little bit toxic,” he added.
During the meeting on Tuesday, which took place at a downtown establishment, a woman experiencing homelessness came into the building. Le Bouthillier says it was a clear example of what businesses downtown are dealing with on a daily basis.
“What we’ve been living as downtown entrepreneurs is very visual and it’s hurting our resiliency and it’s starting to hurt our businesses,” he said. “Our businesses, at the end, is the heartbeat of every downtown. If we’re losing that, we have nothing left.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Jubilation and gunfire as Syrians celebrate the end of the Assad family's half-century rule
Syrians poured into streets echoing with celebratory gunfire on Sunday after a stunning rebel advance reached the capital, putting an end to the Assad family's 50 years of iron rule but raising questions about the future of the country and the wider region.
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly focused on re-election, doesn’t explicitly rule out future Liberal leadership bid
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly insisted she supports Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and is focused on her own re-election, but wouldn't explicitly rule out a future Liberal leadership bid, in an interview on CTV's Question Period airing Sunday.
Trump calls for 'immediate ceasefire' in Ukraine after meeting Zelenskyy in Paris
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump on Sunday called for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, shortly after a meeting in Paris with French and Ukrainian leaders, claiming Kyiv 'would like to make a deal' to end the more than 1,000-day war.
Most Canadians would avoid buying U.S. products post-Trump tariff: Nanos survey
A majority of Canadians would be hesitant to buy U.S. goods in response to the proposed American tariff on products from Canada, according to a new survey.
opinion The Trump shadow presidency forces Biden further into the background
Not waiting until the official swearing-in, Donald Trump has already begun to exert his influence over U.S. foreign policy as president-elect, writes Washington political analyst Eric Ham in his column for CTVNews.ca.
Canadians turn domestic for holiday travel, with weak loonie discouraging U.S. trips
After turning abroad for holiday vacations last year, more Canadians are keeping their travel plans in-country this Christmas season due to squeezed budgets, lower domestic fares and a decisive end to the post-pandemic boom in overseas travel — and now a slumping currency.
Superior Court authorizes class action against junior hockey league over abuse of minors
The Quebec Superior Court authorized the institution of a class action aimed at compensating all minors who suffered abuse while playing in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL).
Nobel recipient Geoffrey Hinton wishes he thought of AI safety sooner
Geoffrey Hinton says he doesn't regret the work he did that laid the foundation for artificial intelligence, but wishes he thought of safety sooner.
Renovations underway to return one of the last Quonset-style theatres in Canada back to former glory
Community members in the small town of Coleman, Alta. are eagerly waiting for the grand re-opening of the historic Roxy Theatre now that renovations have started.