Safety in our communities and on transit is important – it’s an issue we have been examining closely for the past two years. There’s a lot of work to be done on addressing the root causes of social disorder towards the goal of improving safety, so we were pleased to see the City of Calgary taking the issue seriously and recently publishing 28 recommendations from the Downtown Safety Leadership Table report (DSLT).

VCC has identified similar issues that contribute to safety concerns on public transit and in the downtown core including limited around-the-clock resources in the social sector, funding constraints in the homeless serving sector, lengthy detox waitlists, and a substantial shortage of managed indoor spaces, including safe and inclusive spaces for women experiencing homelessness, 2SLGBTQ+, and youth.

We’ve also been examining the issue of social disorder as it relates to public transit and we have seen similar themes from our interviews with police, front-line workers in the homeless serving sector, and people who are experiencing homelessness. We are pleased to have the opportunity to leverage the DSLT’s report and collaborate on the key areas that relate to poverty in our city to make transit safer for everyone 

In collaboration with researchers from the University of Calgary and a leading expert in housing and homelessness, our report will be published later this year and we’ll be hosting a series of conversations on strategies for addressing the issue of social disorder once it's released. 

The issues of social disorder are complicated, and we know some of the solutions take time and systems-level change. We’re pleased to see so many agencies and experts working together to make Calgary safe for all.