Alberta’s Opposition NDP is proposing a three-part plan to address concerns about detainees and offenders being released in Edmonton’s Chinatown.
In recent weeks, surveillance video has surfaced showing Edmonton police and Alberta corrections officers dropping off people who had recently been released from custody in and around Chinatown.
Community member Wai-Ling Lennon said the situation is affecting people’s sense of safety in a neighbourhood she considers an important connection to her heritage.
“This is the part of Edmonton that reminds me of my heritage. This is the place where I feel I belong,” Lennon said.
She said other members of the community, particularly seniors, have told her they are afraid to go out after dark.
“I have also heard the children, adults, seniors who live outside Chinatown, they do not feel safe to come to Chinatown anymore,” Lennon said.
Karl Miu, with the Edmonton Chinatown and Area Business Association, said the drop-offs are continuing and it is time for the provincial government to take action.
At a news conference Thursday, Edmonton-South West MLA Nathan Ip said the situation is affecting both the community and those being released from custody.
“We’ve been left dealing with the consequences of a system that is failing both the community and the businesses and the people being released,” Ip said.
Members of Edmonton’s Chinese community say the problem is not new, and that detainees and offenders have been dropped off in Chinatown for years.
“Now we see this video evidence, we see what is happening in our community, we see how this has expanded and multiplied and it has reached the level that this is a crisis that needs to be addressed,” said NDP MLA David Shepherd, the party’s public safety critic.
The NDP is proposing a three-part plan for the United Conservative government.
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“First, an immediate end to detainee releases in Chinatown and anywhere in Alberta by any law enforcement agency unless a direct connection to services has been made in advance and those services are open and accessible,” Shepherd said.
The Opposition is also calling for expanded reintegration supports for people leaving remand custody and for reintegration plans to be required before high-risk and vulnerable people are released.
In a statement to Global News, Arthur Green, press secretary for Alberta’s public safety minister, said the government has met with Chinatown residents and service providers and is taking steps to address their concerns.
“Our government has met with Chinatown residents and providers and have taken their concerns seriously, taking concrete steps to make their community safer,” Green said.
He pointed to the relocation of the Edmonton Remand Centre from Chinatown and said the province is implementing dedicated system navigators in correctional centres to help co-ordinate releases and connect people with housing and other supports.
Green also criticized the NDP’s record in government, accusing the party of “fearmongering about disorder” after three supervised consumption sites were established in Chinatown during its time in office.
“Albertans don’t need lectures from the NDP about Chinatown’s challenges — in fact, if the NDP had been paying any attention, they would know our government is already taking real action to address them,” Green said.
The government said Edmonton’s Navigation and Support Centre, located in Chinatown, has helped more than 12,000 Albertans access supports and made more than 75,000 connections to services, including affordable housing and identification supports.
Green also said the province announced an investment of more than $30 million this summer to add more than 400 treatment, housing and stabilization beds in the Edmonton area.
Business owners say improving public safety and revitalizing Chinatown’s economy go hand in hand.
Entrepreneur Wilson Wong called on the province to work with the community.
“We’re asking the province to partner with us as an investment in Alberta’s economy, culture and next generation of entrepreneurs,” Wong said.
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