Originally published in Lake of the Woods Area News, Volume 54, Number 5, Winter 2024
Some galvanizing incidents over the past few years have heightened the City of Kenora’s commitment to address concerns about safety in its downtown and surrounding areas. Additionally, the City is provincially mandated to file an annual Community Safety and Well-Being Plan with the Solicitor General.
The first step the City undertook was hiring a full-time Community Safety and Well-Being Coordinator, Eric Shih. Next was bringing on board Christiane Sadeler of Better Solutions, who has decades of experience facilitating community safety. Her role would be to work with various stakeholder groups to develop the Community Safety and Well-Being Plan.
“Historically, there’s always a limited number of people at the table that are working hard to represent all of the community’s priorities and needs,” said Shih, “Now, under Christiane’s guidance and leadership, we have a robust, evidence-driven process to engage people from all different sectors—public service, law enforcement, business, and the broader community.”
The City’s Chief Administrator, Kyle Attanasio, looks forward to the results of what he describes as an intensive stakeholder-driven engagement process.
“Aspiration is important, but we need to be focused on measurable action-oriented activities that will be implemented over a specific amount of time. We are trying to focus on concrete priorities.”
Sadeler is impressed with the level of support she’s received and the energy she sees coming from city leaders, community members and the Crime Prevention and Community Well-Being (CPCWB) Advisory Committee, which was established earlier this year. The Committee is comprised of representatives from the City, local service agencies, law enforcement, and individual citizens with a variety of areas of expertise and experiences.
CPCWB Advisory Committee Chair, Darcia Curtis, describes how cross-representation on the Committee is essential. “It’s important to have insights from different sectors with different perspectives so we can consider the varying needs in the community. We’re talking about well-being and making sure all voices are being heard and not just those that are the loudest.”
In addition to guiding activities of the CPCWB Advisory Committee, Sadeler has been conducting consultations with a broad spectrum of community stakeholders as well as reviewing data from many agencies and through public channels such as Census Canada. She also coordinated a survey to assess the community’s perceptions of safety as well as to identify how people want to be involved in solutions.
The survey had 1,013 responses. “This is the highest rate I’ve ever seen and very high for a community the size of Kenora,” she said. “This tells me this is close to people’s hearts, that people want change, change in what they are experiencing downtown, and change in what has led to the challenges the community is experiencing.”
While the data is still being analyzed a few key findings have “risen to the top” as Sadeler describes:
When asked where residents felt safe and unsafe during the day and night, respondents provided the following feedback about downtown: during the day 33 per cent of people felt safe, while at night feeling of safety drops to 14 per cent. 47 per cent of respondents said they feel a strong sense of belonging in Kenora, while 48 per cent said they feel a weak sense of belonging.
A majority of the respondents also said that they have not been a victim of crime within the past two years.
Indigenous residents are more likely to feel unwelcome, question what’s helpful in crime prevention, and have a less trustful relationship with police.
One promising finding stands out for Sadeler. When asked if they would be willing to work with others on improving the living conditions in their neighbourhood, a whopping 87 per cent of people answered yes.
“This tells us that people are ready to roll up their sleeves,” she said. “The question now for the CPCWB Advisory Committee is determining how we mobilize that 87 per cent. This Plan is not just going to be implemented by the City and police and social services—it’s intended to be a plan for every citizen.”
“The fact that a high number of respondents are feeling unsafe in downtown is not news to us, but it is good to get the confirmation,” said Sadeler.
While many citizens, when asked about crime prevention, talk about challenges in the downtown, a significant number of them also voiced fears of domestic violence and sexual assault. “Many crimes happen behind closed doors and the CPCWB Advisory Committee is very much aware of that,” said Sadeler. Curtis adds that this finding underlines the importance of looking beyond the perception that concerns about safety only lies in the realm of addictions that are evident in the downtown core. “That’s important and significant, but pieces around prevention and what contributes to everyone’s well-being is important too. The intention is to make sure our Plan doesn’t just sit in the mental health, addiction, and social services world. It needs to be broader than that.”
Next steps
The CPCWB Advisory Committee is now moving into identifying priorities, after which the final plan will be presented to City Council.
“This will span everything from what the municipality can do to actions that can be undertaken by the service organizations, the community, and individual citizens,” said Sadeler. “We’ll be looking at how to make the priorities happen—what actions are needed to accomplish goals and objectives. We’ll be attaching evaluations so programs can be adjusted as we go along. This is not to measure how a program or initiative succeeded or failed, but to set up the actions for success in the first place.”
Curtis adds, “The CPCWB Advisory Committee is a group of people who are all very intentional about doing this differently, thoughtfully, by being well-informed and having engagement from others. There’s a strong commitment that this won’t be a plan that goes nowhere.”
She hopes the data will also help the community look toward the future. “What is the research showing for what needs to happen with children and youth to prevent crime going forward?”
Christiane Sadeler of Better Solutions brings decades of experience facilitating community safety to the work of developing a Community Safety and Well-Being Plan for Kenora.
Ensuring all voices are heard
The Plan will consider the unique composition of Kenora’s population, which includes up to 10 times as many Indigenous people relative to its size compared to other municipalities in Ontario. “You can’t develop a plan of this nature without paying attention to that,” Sadeler said. “It brings up all sorts of conversations and provides a unique opportunity for Kenora to model the way for meaningful communication within this diverse population.”
Curtis agrees. “The proximity to residential schools is an important piece we need to consider and ensure engagement of the Indigenous population and that they feel part of this plan.”
Three Indigenous Sharing Circles were co-facilitated by Jazlyn O’Bonsawin, a researcher from the Canadian Centre for Safer Communities in collaboration with the University of Waterloo and Mary Alice Smith from Kenora. They were assisted by Anita Cameron, a member of the CPCWB Advisory Committee with expertise and lived experience in Indigenous health and community relations. Prior to her retirement, Cameron served as Executive Director for Waasegiizhig Nanaandawe’iyewigamig, which offers comprehensive primary health care services reflecting both traditional and contemporary approaches for Indigenous people in Kenora and surrounding First Nations.
She has been pleased with Sadeler’s approach thus far. “There’s lots of expertise and she is picking up on the gaps and that Indigenous people have different perceptions of safety.”
This isn’t a surprise to Cameron, who, in addition to working with Indigenous community members, has also lived here for 30-plus years and raised her children here. She has first-hand experience of racism directed at her immediate family as well as relatives living on Kenora’s streets.
She helped connect O’Bonsawin with a young mother’s group through Ne-Chee Friendship Centre, a Grandmother’s Circle, and representatives from the Kenora Métis Council.
She comments that it was interesting to hear the commonalities in themes between older and younger women.
“Both groups shared similar perspectives in terms of defining safety and were far more concerned about the safety of their family members than themselves.”
The younger women, however, were more outspoken about concerns related to drugs and needles. “The mama bear instinct is strong when you have cubs to protect,” she observed. “While the older women share that worry, they were equally concerned with the underlying roots of those problems and addressing them through healing rather than more judgemental approaches.”
These consultations highlight for her the need for a plan that’s both meaningful and manageable.
“Kenora’s population is diverse and regional, so this plan needs to include something for everyone. A great start would be promoting a better understanding of the real history of the area, and the tremendous contributions Indigenous people have made to that shared history and what stands here today. So much information has been left out of the narratives we hear.”
Plan to create momentum for positive change
“My dream is that this plan isn’t an end of itself, that it becomes a mobilizing tool for Kenora to roll up its sleeves and for people to work together across any divides to do the best they can for everyone, but also specifically for those experiencing disadvantages and heightened fears,” said Sadeler. “Ultimately, that it’s a catalyst for change for Kenora.”
This, she hopes, will help create some momentum and possibly address the concerns of those who don’t believe there will ever be positive change.
“Life is about change, and change is inevitable. You can be part of the change, or you can push back. The new or next Kenora may be even greater than the one you remember, an amazing community socially and environmentally.
Kenora is a jewel of a place that wants to be known for that and its tourism, but also as a community that rallies together and doesn’t give up.”
She concludes, “The problems Kenora is facing weren’t created overnight, so they can’t be fixed overnight. We need to monitor the progress and stay dedicated to it. It’s easy to throw up our hands and say nothing will ever change.
But the river flows very slow. When we can focus on what we can all do—every one of us—we can help that river flow faster.”
You can read more about the Community Safety and Well-Being Plan at kenora.ca/en/your-government/community-safety-and-well-being-plan.aspx. The page includes links to the CPCWB Advisory Committee, minutes, and website page.
