A Nanaimo business owner says threats are becoming more frequent downtown.
Dave Lawerance owns The 50’s Barbershop on Victoria Crescent in Nanaimo and says last week he was with his son when an attempt was made on his life just because he asked a homeless man to move.
“Once bylaw left, I made sure my son was safe, then I put my hand on his shoulder and asked him to leave,” he says. “The homeless man jumped up and said, ‘I am going to kill you.’”
Lawerance says the past couple of months incidents have escalated and has left the once vibrant community with a severe decline in business.
“I am running into people who used to get their haircut telling me they’re too scared to come downtown,” he says. “I have brought these concerns forward to the mayor and council and have got no response from them.
“I don’t feel there is much of a plan for safety and security downtown.”
The barbershop is a one-chair operation which Lawerance says is typically always busy, but lately he has noticed a 25 per cent decline in clientele.
“This hurts for a small business, it makes paying bills on-time hard,” he says. “I want to stay here, and the city should be helping out.”
Lawerance says he feels government bodies are not hearing the concerns of people living under these conditions, and it seems each level of government keeps passing the buck.
Nanaimo MLA Sheila Malcomson says incidents like these are unwarranted and no one should have to live their day-to-day life in fear.
“It is unacceptable that people don’t feel safe in their communities, homes and places of work,” she says. “There are a lot of historical reasons why we are seeing a rise in homelessness, mental health and addictions but none of it makes it okay for anyone to feel afraid.
“Violence of any source we have to condemn and take action on,” she says.
She says the province is looking to take measures to help make people feel safe and address the growing crisis in Nanaimo.
“Two new resources are being implemented around identification of repeat offenders, and we are seeing some results,” she says. “We are adding 230 new police officers across the province and expanding affordable housing and treatment for mental health and addiction challenges.”
According to Crime Index Canada, Nanaimo has seen a rise in overall crime by 5.8 per cent, with violent crimes rising 1.3 per cent and non-violent crimes increasing 7.8 per cent.
