The Downtown Sudbury Business Improvement Area has commended Greater Sudbury Police Service\u2019s action plan to address open drug use, but want senior governments to do more<\/p>\n
While applauding a Greater Sudbury police plan to address social issues in the city\u2019s downtown core, the Downtown Sudbury Business Improvement Area also wants governments to do more.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is the job of senior levels of government to provide the long-term solutions,\u201d the downtown stewards wrote in a media release in which they threw support behind the Greater Sudbury Police Service Support First: 360\u00b0 Community Safety Initiative<\/a>, announced earlier this month.<\/p>\n This initiative includes a crackdown during the month of November, during which police officers will more readily arrest people for open drug use and increase their presence downtown.<\/p>\n GSPS Chief Sara Cunningham clarified last week that police are maintaining a \u201csupport first, enforcement last,\u201d with arrests typically made when people decline help.<\/p>\n The downtown business community has long requested this enforcement, Downtown Sudbury wrote, commending the plan\u2019s \u201ccommitment to clear consequences for illegal activities\u201d as being \u201ca decisive and welcome move toward restoring a sense of security.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis renewed focus on safety is what allows our members to return their focus to what they do best: creating exceptional customer experiences,\u201d Downtown Sudbury co-chair Kendra MacIsaac said in the media release. \u201cWhile we absolutely support compassion, that compassion cannot come at the cost of public safety and lawful conduct.\u201d<\/p>\n Downtown Sudbury said they\u2019d be working with GSPS and other community partners to ensure the success of the Support First 360 program.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, senior levels of government will need to step up, Downtown Sudbury noted.<\/p>\n \u201cWe continue our call for those senior governments to urgently invest in and provide quicker access to comprehensive housing, addictions and mental health supports,\u201d Downtown Sudbury wrote. \u201cAddressing the root causes of this crisis before it manifests on our streets is fundamental to stemming its growth and creating sustainable, positive change.\u201d<\/p>\n The push for provincial and federal governments to do more has been reiterated by local leaders for years.<\/p>\n In announcing the GSPS community safety initiative earlier this month, Cunningham clarified, \u201cwe\u2019re not going to enforce our way out of\u201d the \u201chealth crisis. \u2026 \u201cPublic Health plays a really crucial role in our open-air drug crisis, but it does not diminish the role of the police to intervene when necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n Ideally, she said there\u2019d be more wraparound services available at the Energy Court municipal homeless hub<\/a> for vulnerable residents to receive the help they need.<\/p>\n City CAO Shari Lichterman also shared this sentiment in conversation with Sudbury.com earlier this month, flagging a shortfall in affordable housing<\/a> as a key gap in service the city needs funding from senior levels of government to help fill.\u00a0<\/p>\n The city\u2019s current waitlist for subsidized housing is almost 2,000 households, and Lichterman said it takes people \u201cyears\u201d to move into housing.<\/p>\n The local doctors behind the Lotus Program<\/a> (a Health Sciences North-staffed team which helps the chronically homeless residents of the 40-unit Lorraine Street transitional housing complex) told city council members last week that finding permanent community housing for residents to graduate into has been an ongoing challenge.<\/p>\n On a similar front, Lichterman told city council members there\u2019s a current need for at least two more 40-unit transitional housing complexes, as part of the city\u2019s largely unfunded $350-million plan to end homelessness<\/a> by 2030, which requires senior governments to step up.<\/p>\n