Terrace Mayor Sean Bujtas says he’s going to continue to press the provincial government to find more RCMP officers for the local detachment.
With two briefings in the last six months concerning historically high vacancies causing city council concern, Bujtas was in Victoria late last month for a series of meetings with provincial cabinet ministers.
Topping the meeting list was a session with B.C. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth where Bujtas focused on Terrace being named as one of 12 hubs where the province wants to concentrate on repeat violent offenders.
“When we hear that the crime reduction unit has been collapsed, that the Indigenous policing unit has been collapsed and community police has been collapsed, I expressed my concern that the province wants to do this when we’re nowhere near being able to meet our current capacity,” he said of the local hub.
“I don’t know how the province is saying there will be additional supports for these hubs. We don’t have enough officers as it is.”
“Our detachment right now has one of the highest file counts per member in the province.
“A real concern is the effect on the morale of the members. I think we are just one major disaster away from the RCMP having to fly in members to help out.”
The Terrace detachment is not the only detachment in the province to suffer from officer shortages, leading the RCMP several years ago to set up two relief units, one here and one in Prince George. Officers from those units were expected to fill detachment vacancies until permanent replacements arrived.
Bujtas said while that was a great idea, he’s not convinced any of those officers were ever assigned to plug local holes.
The mayor described Farnworth as empathetic and understanding in adding that RCMP officer shortages ultimately rest with the federal government.
Sessions with other cabinet ministers included:
— asking B.C. Premier David Eby and B.C. Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon for money so the city can add infrastructure such as sewer and water lines.
“If Terrace is to do its part so there is more housing, we need the infrastructure to do that,” said Bujtas.
— continuing a lobby campaign begun by former Terrace Mayor Carol Leclerc for money for Foundry, a provincial youth mental health program.
While the program is functioning it needs more space and that’s to come about by occupying the first floor of a five-storey structure being promoted by Terrace and District Community Services.
BC Housing has committed money for seniors rental housing for the second to fifth floors but the first floor Foundry space is $2 million short of what’s needed.
“We asked for $1 million,” said Bujtas of a session with Kahlon.
— the inadequate sidewalks on the provincial government’s Sande Overpass were raised with B.C. Transportation Minister Rob Fleming. Something much safer is needed there,” said Bujtas.
— the lack of detox and treatment facilities in the northwest was raised with B.C. Mental Health and Addictions Minister Jennifer Whiteside.
Providing such a facility has been a consistent lobbying theme of city council for years.