Good Neighbours Table aims to address community concerns
Everybody has the right to move safely through their community: Chamber
Addressing concerns about public safety, and answering questions about the function of the coming Overdose Prevention Site, are the primary drivers behind the Good Neighbours Table, created by the Fort St. John & District Chamber of Commerce, in conjunction with Northern Health.
The process began in February 2023, when the Chamber sent a letter to the City of Fort St. John, the RCMP and Northern Health, outlining their memberships’ concerns surrounding the opening of an Overdose Prevention Site in downtown Fort St. John. Two months later, Northern Health agreed to the concept of the Good Neighbours Table.
“For our first meeting, we picked those people who were affected [to join the table]. Everything from daycares, School District 60, the North Peace Cultural Centre, any of the businesses that are in the area and being impacted,” said Kathleen Connolly, the Chamber’s Chief Executive Officer.
Connolly said that positive things are already coming out of the table, after just a few monthly meetings. “People are starting to understand what an OPS is, and we’re getting rid of some of the false rumours that are out there – that they’re giving out free drugs in the OPS,” she said. “That’s not correct, they don’t do that.”
A lot of the business of the Good Neighbours Table has been answering questions about staffing of the site, what the programs will look like, and who’s going to be there, Connolly explained. “We’re really digging into the statistics around who in our community is most being impacted. And I think that we know for the most part, that it’s youth.”
That part of the conversation has been very helpful in terms of getting people to understand what the facility will do.
“That doesn’t mean people agree with it. It means we’re having conversations around understanding.”
The table is also for those who have, and rightfully so, said Connolly, concerns about public safety. Concerns about the safety of their customers, students, daycares, staff who might be working longer hours, and concerns about who is going to be in the area. Through the conversations at the table, the members are taking the concerns and finding ways to fix them.
“We’ve talked about things like creating a sidewalk on 99th Avenue, about additional lighting so the daycare kids don’t have to walk down 100th – that’s something that went to the City, and I think it’s going to have a positive outcome,” she said.
They’ve also discussed additional lighting for other areas of downtown, extra security, essentially anything business owners have brought up that's an area of concern. Then they try to find ways to solve the concerns.
However, Connolly noted that the OPS hasn’t opened yet, and isn’t scheduled to do so until October, so they don’t actually know what the impacts will be. For now, Connolly says they’re having very robust conversations about how to prevent and mitigate any issues that may arise.
Keeping this table together as the OPS goes through it’s opening is something the group wants to do, so that if and when an issue arises, they have a group they can pull together to try to reach some solutions.
“I expect there will be issues that will continue to be brought up. Those are hard conversations, and solutions don’t always come, but at least there’s a mechanism for conversation.”
Another positive to come out of the Good Neighbours Table, is additional RCMP patrols in the downtown.
“We asked for bike and foot patrols, and I’m happy to say that we’re seeing those patrols. It’s fabulous and fantastic,” said Connolly.
Because of it’s successes in engaging affected community members in a hands-on way, the Fort St. John model is being discussed at provincial tables. With 30 members at the table, there are broader conversations than there would be with a smaller group. The newly formed Citizens on Patrol society is one of the table’s newest members, which Connolly feels is helpful.
“We want the people who are unhappy and have concerns at that table,” Connolly said. “We don’t want everybody just agreeing that it’s great. We want people who show up and say they’re not okay with this. We want those hard conversations – that’s what we have to do to protect our community.”
“And that’s everybody in the community. Everybody has the right to move safely through their community.”
The Good Neighbours Table meets once a month, usually on the fourth Tuesday of the month. Connolly says that if you feel you’re an affected business owner in the area, reach out to the Chamber and they’ll see about getting you on the table.
“We try to make it inclusive, not difficult for anyone to join.”