COLD LAKE — One individual in Cold Lake has had 165 recorded interactions with RCMP and municipal enforcement in the past year, an example of the growing strain placed on local enforcement by prolific offenders.
The issue was highlighted during the City’s June 10 regular council meeting, as officials discussed the challenges of repeat offenders and enforcement resource demands.
CAO Kevin Nagoya presented a report highlighting how a small number of repeat offenders are taking up municipal enforcement resources, while they rarely face lasting consequences.
Over the past year, the City of Cold Lake has been adjusting its enhanced municipal enforcement strategy to better address prolific offenders, vagrancy, and homelessness, said Nagoya.
Despite the numerous charges, “the Crown dropped all charges,” which involved “some serious crimes within the community,” said Nagoya.
The report sparked a discussion about the limitations of the current judicial process and how provincial and federal responsibilities intersect - or fail to.
Coun. Chris Vining raised concerns over the high volume of cases that never make it to court.
“The concerning part is the number of [incidents] that don’t even get the chance to be reviewed or heard in court,” he said, adding that while federal bail reform is discussed often, “this is much more tied to what’s happening and what the commitment is from the province in being able to assist municipalities.”
Nagoya agreed, saying, “the frustration comes down to - from the municipal officers’ perspective - is that you’re doing all this work but . . . essentially the courts are dropping some of the issues or most of the issues.”
Council voiced concern over the financial burden that could fall on local taxpayers if Cold Lake were to pursue appeals against court decisions.
“It costs the taxpayers money to appeal those decisions,” said Nagoya.
Coun. Vicky Lefebvre urged council to take action. “Things are not happening. And I think we should take it a step farther here. We’ve got data. We’ve got information. This is just one – there are several.”
She added, “Whether you have to build more prisons, whether you have to build a place for someone to get their drug rehabilitation . . . they have to be taken off our streets because it’s costing us.”
Coun. Bob Mattice echoed the urgency, “This person in 365 days, 165 charges, that’s one every second day . . . Taxpayers and citizens of Cold Lake also have [basic human rights] too.”
Council agreed to refer the report to Corporate Priorities for further consideration.
Nagoya concluded by recommending public communication on the issue to help residents understand the limitations of municipal enforcement and the systemic barriers involved.
“Our advice is that we prepare a kind of . . . communication to the public about some of these issues that we’re seeing,” he said.
