Northern B.C. MLA seeking collective solutions to crime

Mike Bernier, MLA for Peace River South met with the City of Dawson Creek council during their Jan. 15 meeting, and said he’s concerned about the recent rise in crime seen across the region and says communities deserve better. 

Bernier suggested that a trip to Vancouver or Victoria to speak with ministers could help raise awareness, acknowledging that the problem is a provincial and national issue, not limited to Dawson Creek. 

“If we don’t do our job to raise awareness that it’s affecting us, then we will be left out of the discussion,” said Bernier. 

“So, the more we are in front of people, the more we’re talking about the challenges we’re facing, the more that when decisions are being made, hopefully they’ll include us when we talk about solutions as well,” he added. 

While the community has been negatively impacted as of late, Bernier says the positive is that concerned citizens are stepping up to aid public safety through grassroots crime watch organizations.  

“This is not going to be solved by one person or one group, this is going to be a collective, I think as a community and all different organizations working together to not only talk about some of the challenges, but look for solutions,” Bernier said, who's been meeting regularly with Mayor Darcy Dober to discuss issues. 

While he doesn’t intend to criticize the local RCMP, Bernier says he would like to see more information shared, even if it’s limited. 

“When the information’s not there, people start making up their own,” he noted “And I think we need to find an avenue where we can appropriately share data that we can share.” 

Coun. Jerimy Earl said there’s been some confusion by residents about the jurisdictional overlaps of municipal, provincial, and federal government in regards to crime and justice, after hearing feedback from a recent town hall, noting he agrees with Bernier’s desire for better communication. 

Mayor Dober says not much has changed in the past year when it comes to crime in the city, with residents feeling fearful. 

"It doesn't seem like anything in the last year has changed a lot, and you know, these property crimes that we were dealing with a year ago when we met with the attorney general have now turned into, you know, violent crimes," he said. 

Bernier also acknowledged the pressure and stress that police are under across the province, especially in light of offenders being caught and quickly released by the judicial system. 

“We’ve heard and seen the stories where they do this work, they catch people, but then they’re released right away,” Bernier said. “ The system, in a lot of ways is broken. I’m not going to go down a political road of getting into that too much today.” 

The crime discussion was prompted by council recognizing January as ‘Crime Stoppers’ month, to honour the volunteering efforts from groups like the South Peace District Crime Prevention Association, with representative John Vetter accepting the proclamation. 

Vetter said he’s grateful for the council representation from Kyle MacDonald, who is an active crime prevention member, and noted the association would like to speak with the city’s manager of community services to explore ideas to enhance public safety. 

“There’s some other things we can do, you know, to augment potential neighbourhood watch and safer communities that are federal initiatives,” said Vetter.