Downtown Calgary businesses call for additional support for vulnerable populations

The Calgary Downtown Association says businesses in the core are suffering as they continue to grapple with the drug use and mental issues on their doorsteps almost every day.

“It’s part of an every day challenge that the downtown is dealing with, and I think, based on our work with our membership, this cannot be the cost of doing business,” said Mark Garner with the Calgary Downtown Association

He says businesses are struggling to react to social inequity issues including mental health and addiction challenges.

“The business owners, the on-street retailers, have become frontline workers and this is not what they do, they’re entrepreneurs,” Garner added.

“They know how to sell product, they know how to make experiences for retail clients and are now dealing with addictions, overdoses, elevated behaviours and a bunch of other challenges.”

He says it will take more than sheriffs and extra policing promises by the province to solve the problem.

Garner adds more funding and changes have to come from government for a multi-pronged approach from policing resources and outreach, to more beds for chronic cases and supportive housing.

“The cost of these issues is basically being supported by business, and these issues cannot be the cost of doing business in the downtown,” he said.

“We need partnered outreach, we need increased police resources, we need increased resource teams from the agencies, we need increased beds to take those chronic cases off the streets and into a housing situation where they can start to develop the relationships and get the resources they need.

Garner says they’ll be presenting government with the statistics and information to back up what they’re asking for.