‘Consequences of crime’: Kelowna MLAs hosting town hall to address social disorder

Business owners have been sounding the alarm about crime in Kelowna and local MLAs have announced plans to host a town hall in an effort to hear the public’s concerns.

Kelowna-Mission MLA Gavin Dew, Kelowna Centre MLA Kristina Loewen and West Kelowna-Peachland MLA Macklin McCall, all opposition members, are going to be at Revelry Food and Music Hub at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 5, according to a press release from the trio of BC Conservatives.

“This town hall is about listening directly to the people who are living with the consequences of crime and disorder every day,” Loewen said in the release. “Residents and business owners are telling us clearly that the current approach isn’t working, and they deserve to be heard.”

Kelowna RCMP held a press conference on Jan. 13 to address the community’s concerns, where it announced more patrols and a continued effort to deal with social disorder particularly downtown.

Business owners have been complaining about break-ins, drug use, theft and they have safety concerns for their customers.

The citizen Downtown Kelowna On-Call team received more than 400 calls from businesses for help in the span of two weeks recently.

“Small businesses have been left to fend for themselves,” Dew said. “They are doing everything they can to keep their doors open while dealing with challenges that shouldn’t be theirs alone to solve.”

Businesses and residents from around the city have been asked to attend.

McCall said there needs to be a change.

“Right now, there’s no real deterrence,” McCall said. “Communities are asking for a system that protects the public, supports recovery, and addresses repeat offending in a meaningful way.”