Issues remain in North Central 15 years after Macleans article

It has been 15 years since Macleans magazine published a piece about Regina’s North Central neighbourhood being the worst neighbourhood in Canada and in the years since that article was released, it seems not much has changed.

At the Board of Police Commissioners meeting Oct. 25, the Regina Police Service unveiled a new Community Crime Map which allows the public to see what types of crime are happening in their community.

The map is updated every 24 hours and covers a wide range of incidents, including assaults, break-and-enters, impaired drivers, mischief, criminal traffic violations and robberies.

However, after the police presentation ended, the discussion surrounding the map quickly pointed out just how bad things in North Central still are.

The map shows crimes that have occurred over the past 90 days and it shows a lot of the crime that has happened in Regina has taken place in North Central.

Regina Mayor Sandra Masters pointed out the trend and expressed her concerns to police.

She spoke with reporters afterwards saying more needs to be done in that area.

“Essentially, I can’t tell you — aside from building a couple schools — what we’ve done since then. I think the city has a job to help and there needs to be an actual co-ordinated approach to it,” Masters explained.

Jamie Moran is the program director at the North Central Family Centre and says money is needed in order to help protect those who are vulnerable.

“There’s certainly a lot of trauma and part of the reason for crime is there’s not enough safe spaces for folks (and) not enough harm reduction or preventative programs,” Moran said. “(An) example being that if you’re struggling with addictions and want to get help for that, there are not enough beds or programs in Regina to get you in.

“One thing we know about folks living with addictions is that when they’re ready to do something different, they need help instantly. Sometimes, a wait time for beds might be three to six months. One thing we need to see is more funding into those preventive and harm reduction approaches, as well as access points in the community.”

Moran says people in the neighbourhood struggle to get the basic amenities other areas of the city have.

“One of the things I’ve always talked about is that there is no banks, there is no grocery stores (and) there’s not really health-care services in the area. When you create a community that becomes a desert community to society and people don’t drive to it or come to it, you’re going to see these rates of crime increase because their basic needs aren’t being met,” Moran said.

Moran says people also are struggling with the fact that current government income support isn’t enough for them to counteract the rising cost of living.

Moran added it’s tough to say if North Central is better or worse off since the Macleans article was published.

“I don’t think that’s an easy answer. I think you’ll see ebbs and flows throughout the years. I think even just recently with the aftereffects of COVID, you’ll see more people struggling at this moment,” Moran said.

“It’s interesting. When the CERB (Canadian Emergency Relief Benefit) payments were out, we saw less need for services because people actually had the income they required to live and meet their basic needs. When that got clawed back, those payments are now being taken off of social income support cheques and it’s putting people in a worse situation than they were in before that. Not only that, but we see the cost of living going up and I’m not sure you could say it’s any better.”

Masters feels the city needs to tackle the problem by taking action and not creating another long-term plan.

“I think part of the problem is nobody sat down, rolled up their sleeves and figured out what’s the best attack,” she said. “I think there’s some best practices across the country for what the plan could look like and I think we’re just reaching a critical mass to initiate some work being done.

“All walks of life, all types of people here in the city want to know how to help,” Masters continued. “My message internally to administration was, ‘If we aren’t all alarmed by North Central, we should be in terms of the support needed and execution on actionable times.’ ”

Masters added North Central has lost 1,000 residents in the last decade.

She suggests addressing crime in the neighbourhood should be a top priority for council heading into 2023.

“I would suggest that if we’re looking at community safety and well-being, we don’t need to look any further than North Central,” Masters said. “I talk to residents in the neighbourhood and they love North Central. There’s some beautiful homes (and) there’s some great civic assets.”

Masters adds that North Central has lots of opportunities for development given its location in the city. She hopes people will step up to help build the area up more.

“I think the pieces are falling into place to bring some folks together who can start to move some things forward and I think it could bring together some pretty cool collaboration,” Masters explained. “I’m much more interested in actually getting to actual items where we can start ticking things off in a methodical sort of way.”

One way for North Central to get its problem sorted out, according to Moran, is by making it easier for people to get the services they need.

“The problem is you can’t address one thing, you have to address all things at one time and I think that’s the issue with our services because you go through one door to get one need met and then you have to go through a million other doors to get another aspect of your need met,” Moran said.

“We kind of have to get away from that and address the whole person. There’s a ton of roadblocks and barriers in place for folks trying to access help and it just becomes frustrating. A lot of time, it’s easier to commit crime or cope through substance. It’s a very stressful type of way to live.”

While North Central continues to face its issues, Moran is hopeful for a brighter future.

“There’s always hope for the future,” added North Central Family Centre executive director Kim Wenger. “The kids we’re working with here at the family centre, there’s a hope and drive that they have to be successful. The schools in the neighbourhood are good and they’re in the right direction of what we need in the community.”