Cameras floated in bid to stem Granville ‘mess’
Councillor says entertainment district must be made safer after stabbing attack
Three weeks after a nightclub employee was stabbed in Vancouver’s Granville entertainment district, a city councillor is calling for changes, including possibly surveillance cameras, to make the area safer.
“We have a major problem on the street, not only for people who go to the bars but anyone who goes down to Granville,” said Vancouver Coun. George Affleck, who is proposing the changes in a motion to go to city council’s regular Tuesday meeting.
“It’s a mess down there.” The NPA councillor’s motion calls for more outdoor seating areas for restaurants on the street and nearby areas, extended bar closing hours, better late-night public transportation options and possibly the return of surveillance cameras, which were used on the street during the 2010 Winter Olympics.
He said the death of Cabana Lounge employee Kalwinder Thind, 23, who was stabbed trying to break up a fight outside the nightclub in the 1100 block of Granville Street around 2:30 a.m. on Jan. 27, highlights what he said is a problem for the street and its many popular bars.
“We have people coming down from the suburbs and drinking all night,” he said, leading to what his motion calls “street disorder and gender-based violence.”
He said allowing sidewalk restaurant patios would put more eyes on the streets and reduce the likelihood of people congregating outside and fights breaking out.
Flexible closing times would eliminate the problem of “the mass exodus of people into the street all at once” when bars all close at 3 a.m.
“That feeds into the problems on the street,” he said. “The problems aren’t in the bars; it’s outside the bars.”
His motion also calls for a review of use of city cameras, which would augment the cameras that many bars and nightclubs already operate.
Affleck also proposes diverting buses to other streets and getting rid of the parking spots on the sidewalk to help to make the street more people-friendly and make room for street festivals and concerts.
And he’s calling for an increase in late-night public transportation and taxi or ride-hailing options.
“The big thing is transportation,” said Curtis Robinson, a former Vancouver police officer and chair of BarWatch. He said because of the lack of an all-night SkyTrain service and pricey cabs, some bargoers linger downtown, waiting for the first SkyTrain at 5 a.m.
But he said the killing of Thind was a “very, very rare occurrence” because BarWatch permanently barred gang members and it’s safer now than in 2007.
But Robinson said he would back the return of surveillance cameras, calling them the most important deterrent to crime.
“People tend to behave better if they know they’re being filmed,” he said.