Red Deer business owners, residents provide feedback on improving downtown safety

Some of the concerns raised included a fear of break-ins, theft, and vandalism to properties and businesses alike.

Owner of Carnival Cinemas Bill Ramji, who moved his business from Capstone to the former Welikokad Event Centre, has still yet to open in the new location, but said they’ve had issues with individuals in the back alley.

When his business was located in Capstone, he said they had issues, but they were less frequent.

“In the last few months there’s been three or four times where people have tried to light a fire in the back,” he said. “It’s a challenging thing, but we’re monitoring it. Hopefully, once we’re open full-time with the movement of people coming in and out, that kind of keeps those people away from the building.”

He said they’re constantly dealing with individuals but believes community involvement and a change in approach could create positive change.

“We can’t just keep dumping it on the city and say it’s their problem. It’s not going to get solved. We all have to work together and see if we can collectively help the situation,” Ramji added.

Some of the other feedback provided included having a warming centre or a safe space for unhoused people to hang out rather than in front of businesses.

Some expressed a desire to find ways to keep the downtown clean of feces, needles and other things.

Citizens and business owners also suggested an increased police presence to prevent open drug use and other crime.

Others suggested more affordable housing, more coordinated services, and moving the unhoused to more appropriate areas.

Adding security for business owners so more customers will come to their stores was also suggested.

Making parking in the downtown more user-friendly was mentioned, as well as increased communication to businesses and the public by the city so they know work is being done.

Red Deer RCMP Corporal Candace Hrdlicka was in attendance and said they’ve formed a community response team at the detachment, which includes a downtown patrol unit.

She said the RCMP is here to listen to residents, business owners, and the vulnerable population. This is how they continue to try to improve not only the community but the downtown area.

“We are continually trying to balance all of those different concerns. The concerns I get from a business owner who called that someone was lighting fires behind their business on the regular is a serious concern. Someone who lives in downtown finds someone who overdosed in their back alley, that’s a serious concern,” she said.

“We want your feedback regularly; we welcome it, and we want you to call in when you’re having concerns. That helps tell us where we need to be.”

Cpl. Samuel Holm, who’s the supervisor of the Red Deer RCMP Downtown Patrol Unit, explained the unit has made some progress.

In May, they shifted their focus from ticketing unhoused people to arresting them to show there are consequences to their actions. This also provides these people with a safe place to spend a few hours and to potentially receive help if they need it.

“It’s a balance that we are trying to strike. Our calls for service at City Park have dropped off since May 1, and at the library there’s been a big decrease,” Holm said.

“The message has been received by a lot of them, and when we see them in places where they’re not causing problems, we don’t have a problem with them,” he said, adding a lot of this was accomplished through public feedback.

The city’s role on Wednesday was just to be a neutral host, according to city staff, who added that the goal was to have respectful conversations and gain insight.

It was the second engagement session that the city held, designed to dive into the six priorities identified by the community through the Downtown Governance project.

Applications open on Aug. 24 for those to apply to be a part of the committee, which will include community members, business owners, and others.

by Ian Gustafson

Red Deer business owners, residents provide feedback on improving downtown safety

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