A city councillor feels there’s no money to hire by-law officers to help police fight illegal drugs.
Rebecca Johnson was the only member to vote against exploring Aldo Ruberto’s idea recently, adding she will keep opposing since it’s pointless to spend any more energy on this for the third or fourth time.
“I understand Councillor Ruberto… I give him full marks and kudos for looking at the situation we have currently,” points out the At-large councillor.
She says with COVID-19, adding more staff to the city payroll is not a good idea, and further questions how an additional two or three officers can help fight the drugs.
Johnson points out federal and provincial help is needed to fight criminals but also help people avoid getting involved in crime, “The world is in a drug enhanced situation, and what do we do about it? I think we work at it, we put harm reduction in place, we educate. We’ve been working on the drug strategy since 2009.”
The At-large councillor adds the drug problem will never be solved. She also has other reasons for her stand.
“The whole review of enforcement is on-going right now. I’d like to see that report come back first, in re-purposing some people, whether it’s for animal services or anything else,” says Johnson.
