To the editor:
After reading the letter from the lady who owns a business on Main St, across from "the drug motel," I wanted to see how, or even if, City Council was addressing the homeless and drug problems that have been plaguing our downtown for years.
While surveying the City Council Meeting minutes, I found that a Community Safety and Well-being Committee was formed (2020) at the direction of the Government of Ontario (and the Police). This Committee has listed four priorities, all of which address helping the drug addicts, and none of which address the problems faced by the City's residents, business owners, or tourists.
One recommendation of this Committee just punched me in the gut; that the City should recruit more Family Doctors and Psychiatrists to help those with drug addictions. I understand and sympathize with anyone who has an addiction and needs assistance. But at what cost to the remainder of the population? I am 80 years old and have been on the Provincial Waiting List for a GP for three years. Furthermore, my son who needs his medication monitored by a psychiatrist was just notified that the one and only psychiatrist in North Bay can no longer see him and that he has been taken off the waiting list.
Here are a few serious questions to ask City Council:
(1) Have the number of drug addicts and homeless gone down?
(2) Has drug-related crime gone down?
(3) Are downtown businesses flourishing or are there more vacant stores on Main St?
(4) Are the majority of residents, especially seniors, getting the healthcare they need?
(5) Why do ill and injured people often wait up to 12 hours at the Emergency Department?
(6) Has tourism increased?
and more, since the inception of this Committee.
Any reasonable person can see that what this Committee and City Council have been doing is not working. It's time to change course.
P.S. The City paid big bucks to a consulting firm to draw up a multi-year plan for the Community Safety and Well-being Committee.
Carolyn Peters
North Bay
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