Early morning loitering can be fined; work begins to house vulnerable

In attempts to curb crime in the busy downtown and Lakeshore areas, the City of Cold Lake has changed a bylaw to discourage people from hanging out in back alleys. 

City council passed second and third reading of the bylaw on Nov. 8, which will restrict back alley loitering from midnight to 6:00am. 

If found loitering, fines near $200 can be handed out. The idea is to prohibit individuals “who have no reasonable reason or legitimate purpose for being there,” city staff said. 

“That’s from north to south. You’re not allowed to loiter in back alleys,” said Mayor Craig Copeland on The Morning After.  

“If you’re back there in the back alleys, you have to have some business associated with the business.” 

Council came to this idea after a presentation was made on enforcement options to address crime. 

During the public hearing portion of the meeting, Arvinder Kamboj, Operational Manager of NAP Liquor in both the north and south in the city, detailed the impacts crime is having on his business. 

He said his staff doesn’t feel safe while working, especially at night. Calls to the RCMP are going nowhere as well. 

“We are losing tons of money almost every day. For each store, especially on the south side, we are losing $4000 to $5000 every month. We need much help right now, which we are not getting,” he told council. 

Funding set aside, work begins

The City has used a suite of measures in recent weeks to try and limit crime, while also setting funding aside for a homeless shelter. 

Several makeshift tents and camps were tore down by city staff.

The John Howard Society was awarded a $100,000 grant from the city’s social inclusion program to do mobile outreach for the vulnerable population in Cold Lake. 

Plus, the City allocated $625,000 for a shelter, while also dedicating land to the Cold Lake Native Friendship Centre to rebuild its Kokum’s House shelter program.

“We have people randomly camping in the back alleys taking up residence. It’s very dangerous for the workers, and it’s impacting the commercial business. So we passed that bylaw. And now give the power to RCMP in the bylaws like it said, it’s about a $200 fine,” said Copeland. 

“We do have people in Cold Lake that live rough and when the shelter was opened before they would have anywhere from five to a dozen people staying overnight. Right now, the units that the city purchased probably won’t arrive till the beginning of December. 

“We’re going to clear the land, put in water, sewer, power and gas, and then put in the trailer units that we bought. It’s a big drilling camp and then outfitted to be a mat shelter. These people are given a mat to sleep on. It’s nothing fancy. But it has a commercial kitchen. John Howard can feed them and the city is going to work on a lease agreement with John Howard. And they’ll stand up their business.”