Beds at the Albert Street homeless shelter (91.9 The Bend photo)
After living in Downtown Moncton for 25 years, with the last 18 spent on Waterloo Street, Krista and Nathan Conners are tired of empty promises.
The couple approached Moncton City Council on Monday night, to demand that immediate action be taken towards the issues plaguing the downtown area.
“We are here on behalf of our neighbours and surrounding small businesses to ask the council to take immediate steps to alleviate the many social issues affecting the downtown core,” said Krista.
They came armed with personal horror stories and everyday occurrences that would terrify the average resident.
With their home just a short walk away from the House of Nazareth homelessness shelter located on Albert Street, the Conners witness a great deal of crime.
“We deal with discarded needles, drug transactions, open drug use, prostitution, theft, violent public outbursts and squatters.”
“There’s a daycare at the end of our street, little kids walk those streets, and they have to walk by people shooting up, they have to walk by needles, and they have to walk by prostitution taking place,” said a choked-up Krista.
The Conners have made many attempts to call the city, RCMP, the house of Nazareth and the province, but to no avail.
Now, as the issues reach a tipping point, the Conners and their community want to see short-term and long-term solutions implemented on an expedited basis.
“Some days we want to give up, but instead we choose to fight for our community,” said Krista.
The Conners praised the response of Ward 2 Councillor Daniel Bourgeois, who has shown a keen interest in addressing public safety.
Bourgeois was critical of the lack of decisions that have been made on the matter and reiterated the need for immediate action.
The public presentation made by the Conners was one of the many times homelessness and public safety were discussed on Monday. John Wishart, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Moncton, kicked off council presentations with a proposal to create a task force on homelessness.
However, the Conners acknowledge their issues are not directly related to homelessness.
Instead, they say the blame falls on mismanagement of the nearby shelter.
Moncton’s socioeconomic issues are sure to be a frequent topic at council meetings, after many councillors cited these issues on their platform ahead of the May 10 Municipal Elections.
