Brighter streets, fire safety focus of Iqaluit public safety committee
Members meet for 17-minute roundtable discussion
At the City of Iqaluit’s public safety committee meeting Thursday, members spoke about fire safety and improving lighting on city streets. (Photo by Jeff Pelletier)
Fire safety and brightening city streets were among the issues Iqaluit’s public safety committee addressed at a meeting Thursday.
Deputy Mayor Kim Smith, one of three city councillors on the committee, praised an RCMP campaign aimed at reducing impaired driving over the summer and municipal enforcement staff for helping remove derelict vehicles around town.
However, she raised a concern over people who leave piles of wood stacked near their homes. If the wood pile catches fire, Smith said, “it’s the whole row of homes that could go, too.”
Fire Chief Steve McGean said he will tour around town to see how people are stacking wood.
“It’s something that we need to take a look at,” he said, adding the city is considering updating its fire safety bylaw.
Smith also asked what could be done to better illuminate Iqaluit’s roads and walkways.
“I think a lot about the horrible incident on Federal Road this summer and just pedestrian safety in general,” she said, speaking about the death of a pedestrian on Aug. 10.
She said the city should have more lighted and maintained walking trails.
Rod Mugford, the city’s operations and protective services director, said there has been a feasibility study done on improving streetlights.
The issue of public intoxication, which has been a discussion point at council and the Nunavut legislative assembly, was also raised.
Committee member David Lawson said the RCMP’s increased foot and all-terrain vehicle patrols were “very effective,” and he wants to see officers do more in the future.
Thursday’s meeting, which lasted about 17 minutes, was the committee’s first since April 11 when it backed improving community safety through a mental health-based approach and called for better access to services.
Its membership also includes city staff, Government of Nunavut representatives and officers from the RCMP and municipal enforcement.
Unfortunately, I’m afraid I have to disagree with Mr. Lawson’s comment that the RCMP efforts this summer were “very effective”. I still witness public drinking on a daily basis in the area surrounding the beer and wine store, usually starting at noon and the RCMP are nowhere to be seen. I wish he were right, but sadly a lot more work is needed.
– Stacked Wood. The houses are made out of wood. Is this really a priority?
– Walkways. What walkways? Did any of you actually walk the unsafe areas you consider walkways? A wrong step and you could fall for 15 feet. The (walkways as you call them) path are not appropriate for the “city”. No decent snow clearing and grading
– Intoxicated driving. Really, in the summer when half of the “city” is gone? You could pick up intoxicated and under the influence drivers every day, especially around the Elks, Legion, Storehouse, Aqsarniit and other bars.
– Patrols. I did not notice any RCMP patrols in Iqaluit. Neither, by food or on ATV’s
Well, how much more nonsense can you come up with in a 17 minute meeting. After all, you had only 5 month since the last meeting in April.
Why doesn’t the “city” get it’s shit together and display some effectiveness. Kudos for the new paving from the Aqua Center to the gas bar, this helps. However, leave the patching of the ever growing number of sink and pot holes to people who know what they’re doing. You unfortunately have no clue.
Please set your priorities on the important issues. Don’t forget you were voted (well not all of you) in by the public to help residents, ensure their safety and to maintain and improve the infrastructure. This does not mean yada yada yada
See also the disaster of a ‘ditch’ or whatever they want to call the situation in front of the RBC building. I’m amazed no one has been seriously injured from slipping and falling on that slope.
How is this dich in front of RBC safe for Elders? Wheelchair assembly NOT. What lowest bidder designed this?
The stacked wood thing seems pretty strange to me. “If the wood pile catches fire”… like what? Spontaneously combusts? Gets hit by lightning? How will a stack of wood catch fire? In places with trees, many people literally keep multiple cords of wood stacked beside their house. Is the real concern here arson? Call it what it is.
So they’re talking about updating their fire safety bylaw because of stacked wood? Can I, once again, refer the council to their own unsightly land bylaw, which states:
Unsightly Land means any Property or part thereof which is characterized by:
1. a premise not keeping with the surrounding properties with a similar zoning under the Zoning By-Law which when considering the usage of the zone, is not neat, organized, and is not pleasing to the sight due to lack of due care and attention;
2. any property or part of it which is characterized by visual evidence of a lack of general maintenance and upkeep or by the storage and/or accumulation on the property of:
a. any rubbish, refuse, garbage, papers, packages, containers, bottles, cans, dirt, soil, gravel, rocks, petroleum products, hazardous materials, disassembled equipment or machinery, broken household dishes, utensils, cartons, fabrics, appliances, and furniture;
Iqaluit already can’t enforce their unsightly land bylaw so they decided to give people free tipping fees and help to remove their vehicles. What now? They’re going to help people remove their stacked wood?
How many derelict vehicles were removed? They still are everywhere. Is catching three drunk drivers enough to claim that we reduce impaired driving in town? Who takes care of the trails? (answer: the city, real answer: nobody.) I understand the challenge of running a small town, but why is it always more complicated here? People are not afraid to drink and drive because there are no consequences; same for the seatbelt, public intoxication, speeding, littering, etc. Just apply the laws. It will be a good start. Then, pave the streets, clean or build pathways, and put some streetlights. After that, you take care of the woodpiles!
17 minute meeting about public safety? Yea, city is not concerned about public safety at all.
The city…absolutely clueless! Your concerned is “stacked wood”? How about by-law/RCMP do patrols late in the evening for public drunkenness and the rampant vandalism in the city? I do agree there should be more street lights!
It was a round table discussion…. Lots of issues, big and small, should come up.
i dont agree on a police state,sorry. i dont want a pro police run town. and being stop and ask 3 times if im drinking,where im going? why im driving? i dont want speed tiket for going 1 km over the speed limits, carefull what you wish for or all your rights will be taken away from you, then all of you pro police moron will wish you never ever ask for police to do more then they allready do well. and then you ll be crying you were stop and put in jail ilegaly on a fake charge of drunk and driving from cops who got push to put more people in jail, and that will be you inocent morons. kinda ironic hey ? you get what you wish for, rcmp and bylaw allready doing a good job on that, but not on vandalisim and theft.andwhen you call they for buglery in progress its a joke, they show up after the theft left with the loot. and that mean lady answering the 911 call need to go.
So basically, you want police to arrest people who do bad things against you but no police for the bad things you do. (And everybody who disagrees is a moron.)