If you ask most business owners in downtown Fredericton, they will tell you the issues related to crime, drug use and homelessness have never been a higher.
More than 200 people – many of whom are downtown business owners – shared their views on these issues an event hosted by the City of Fredericton and Fredericton Police Force on Tuesday.
The meeting followed a fire that was deemed arson a week prior at MacTavish’s Source for Sports, and a month after a break and enter at the Fredericton Public Library. Some business owners say they are dealing with similar issues on a daily basis.
“We’re seeing such an increase year over year, month after month, day after day of crime that’s going on in the city,” says Mike Babineau, who owns three restaurants in the city’s downtown core. “The added costs and frustrations that business owners are having with that added cost and the abuse, the threats, and just the risks that are happening to our business and our employees.”
Babineau says while crime-related issues are nothing new to downtown businesses, the regularity of the crimes has skyrocketed.
Cameron McNeil, co-founder of Par 94 on Queen Street, shares that feeling.
“It’s been a little bit of frustration,” says McNeil, who sits on the board for both Downtown Fredericton and the Fredericton Chamber of Commerce. “It’s been to the point where we’ve talked about this, we’ve had our voices heard, and now it time for action.”
One of the main issues raised in the meeting related to an addiction treatment centre located downtown. While business owners are sympathetic to those struggling with addiction, they also note it is affecting business.
“It shouldn’t be in the main business district of any city,” Babineau says. “The government needs to find a solution for that location. If that’s the programs the government wants to offer, then what kind of support are they going to give (businesses) to help deal with the issues that maybe some of these added pressures of having a location like that in our town is causing?”
“It’s time for advocating to all levels of government,” McNeil says. “We got the sense that the big issue is around Bill C-75, so there’s a lot of pressure put on all levels of government right now to step up and do their part.”
Bill C-75 changed provisions to strengthen the accused’s right not to be denied reasonable bail without just cause.
The city is making efforts to combat the rise in crime. A new task force looking at the root of the issues plaguing downtown businesses is being implemented, and the Community Safety Services Unit introduced in 2023 is continuing to grow.
The Fredericton Police Force will improve recruitment efforts due to the establishment of the Atlantic Police Academy, which will allow the force to train 12 new officers once completing the program.
Downtown Fredericton executive director Adam Peabody says the situation is “becoming a point of crisis for downtown business owners.”
“With the level of crime when it comes to vandalism, when it comes to harassment, having broken windows, having break and enter staff, all that stuff is adding up in a terrible way that’s impacting business owners directly,” Peabody says.
He credits police and other community partners for their work in trying to deter crime in the downtown core. He also thanks shoppers for their continued support.
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