City council in Williams Lake, B.C., is looking to impose a state of local emergency over an increase in street disorder and violence — but the proposal has received pushback, and it’s unclear if the B.C. government would fully support it.
Coun. Scott Nelson put forward a motion on Tuesday to ask staff for options regarding a state of local emergency in response to “increased threats to public safety” in the city of around 20,000 people located 324 kilometres northeast of Vancouver.
Nelson and the city’s mayor, Surinderpal Rathor, say that there has been a sharp increase in public drug use, mental health challenges and fires in the city’s downtown core, and the motion gives the city options to deal with it.
But civil libertarians and a local First Nation have expressed opposition to the motion, and the province has not said if it would support it.
“If they are a person who the RCMP feels may need to go to the hospital because of mental illnesses, they’re going to go to the hospital and we’re asking that they be looked at, put into involuntary treatment,” said Nelson, describing his motion on CBC’s Daybreak South.
The councillor says that multiple B.C. municipalities are struggling with crime and mental health issues, and the province hasn’t stepped up to the plate. He’s calling for a “clean sweep” of the city to deal with repeat offenders.
“The municipalities don’t have the wraparound services, don’t have the resources, and yet these people are laying fires to buildings,” he said. “These people are threatening their own lives.
“It’s becoming chaotic, and the province has downloaded this. We need to upload this back into provincial hands so that the appropriate resources can be put in place to help people with mental health issues.”
Rathor supported the motion, and said he sympathized with people who needed help, but there was a need to protect the business community in the B.C. Interior city.
“It would give extra power to the RCMP, if there’s people wandering aimlessly here and there … they can take them to the hospital or wherever the support is needed,” he said.
B.C. city ponders state of emergency to improve downtown safety after fires, drug use
Nelson’s motion passed 4-3 in council on Tuesday night.
While it doesn’t provide an exact timeline for when the state of emergency could happen, the councillor said Wednesday it could be imposed within the next two days.
Nelson’s motion cites ongoing instances of assaults, open drug use and public indecency, among other things, as being behind the proposed state of emergency.
It further alleges that there was an arson that caused a loss of four businesses, and park washrooms vandalized numerous times, in the last few months.
The councillor says the city approved $100,000 to police last month in order to provide them more resources to deal with the issue, but the state of local emergency would potentially empower them to do more.
“We know that we’ve got some serious issues with people who have got mental health issues walking our streets right now that should not be on the streets,” Nelson said.
RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Madonna Saunderson said there were ongoing discussions regarding the councillor’s concerns, but no decisions had been made yet.
“The Williams Lake RCMP continue to meet with city council to work collaboratively on identifying viable options to address ongoing and/or emerging public safety issues,” she said.
Nelson added that city staff were now working to ensure police, emergency services, and the Interior Health Authority were prepared for the state of emergency.
Nelson’s motion is not without its critics. The Xatsull First Nation, whose reserve is just north of the city, sent a letter to council expressing strong opposition to the motion.
“We stand firmly against these measures — not only because of the disproportionate harm they pose to Indigenous people, but because they risk further marginalizing and criminalizing all people in our city who are struggling,” the letter from Chief Rhonda Williams read.
“These proposed actions would do nothing to address the root causes of the challenges faced in our community,” the letter adds.
The B.C. Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) says the motion is simply a “non-starter” in its eyes, especially regarding the direction for police to transport people to hospitals for involuntary treatment.
“The Mental Health Act already exists and already has mechanisms … where [authorities] do have very extreme powers to detain people,” said BCCLA policy director Meghan McDermott.
“So to suggest that something even more than that is needed, and something as broad as this, is just really dangerous and not the way that our Constitution contemplates life in Canada,” she added.
While any local government in B.C. can declare a local state of emergency for up to 14 days, if they establish what additional powers they need, it is up to the province to consider extending it.
And so far, the province hasn’t indicated whether it supports Williams Lake council’s bid to declare a state of emergency.
Terry Yung, the minister of state for community safety and integrated services, told CBC News that public safety was important to his government and that more concrete plans would be released after talking to Williams Lake council.
“In July, in two months, we’re going to add 40 emergency shelter beds in Williams Lake,” he said.
“So we have programs ongoing, but I look forward to actually understanding more challenges on the ground for Williams Lake after consultation.”
