Guy Turcotte is on the ballot for council in the 2016, but if it were up to him that would not be the only decision voters would make.
Turcotte, who runs the North Battleford Victims of Crime Facebook page, said he wants another question put to voters: whether a curfew should be imposed in the city to help prevent youth from committing crimes.
He says it’s an issue that has come up frequently as he’s gone door to door campaigning.
“If we can get those kids off the street, put them back in their homes,” said Turcotte, “I think crime’s going to decrease somewhat.”
Turcotte continues to be concerned about crime levels in the city and cited incidents of thefts, vandalism and graffiti. He says much of this crime is committed by young people late at night.
He says a different approach to crime is needed than what City Hall is doing at the moment.
“We can’t do the same thing the last eight years and expect a different result. Whatever council has been doing hasn’t been working,” said Turcotte.
He called the current approach “too soft,” and while the HUB and other efforts have helped somewhat, he said more can be done.
“We haven’t been enforcing the curfew, and look how it’s worked out for us,” said Turcotte.
As for a curfew, he supported a plebiscite on the issue.
“Just put it directly on the ballot. It’s not going to cost us anything else, and we’re really going to know what people want. We’re not going to be guessing. There won’t be six or seven people at City Hall telling people what they want. Let’s find out what the people want.”
But it could be too late to put a plebiscite question on the Oct. 26 ballot, as the deadline for nominations was Sept. 21 and election preparations are now underway at City Hall.
In the past, for members of the public to force a plebiscite question onto the civic ballot, efforts have involved filing a petition with a large number of signatures at City Hall.
That is what happened in 2009 when a supporter of school bus stop arms successfully filed a petition triggering a referendum on that issue in that year’s municipal election. The measure ultimately passed.
Turcotte said Tuesday he planned to meet with City Hall to see what could be done. He also spoke about possibly having the issue raised at council ahead of the election, something still possible as there is one more council sitting left before the Oct. 26 vote.
At the very least, Turcotte intends to make it an election issue in this campaign, as one of 15 candidates competing for six council seats.
“If we can remove the people off the streets, or at least decrease, I think it’s going to have a positive impact,” Turcotte said.
