508 replies to this topic

[mbjj]

My husband is a client of the eye place that used to be next door to that new A & W. on Fort.  They've had to move to Quadra, kitty-corner from where the Rathskeller used to be because the work on the new A & W kept turning off their power. It messed up their machines so much they had to have technicians come in to reset them. They hadn't been on Fort St. for very long after moving from Broughton.

[Nparker]

Is this a temporary or permanent move?

[Victoria Watcher]

Norman Cantin, front-of-house manager of John’s Place Restaurant, says these are two tragedies in what he calls a spike of violence in the area.

 

“There’s definitely been a spike in incidents. Definitely starting to notice a little more things around downtown,” Cantin explained.

 

He added these incidents are making the downtown core an undesirable place to visit and work.

 

“I’m very worried about my staff, very worried about our customers,” Cantin said. “We are so busy on weekends people have to stand outside to wait, and we don’t want to make that not easy for them.”

 

Mayor Marianne Alto says these violent incidents are very concerning but not the reality day-to-day.

 

“It’s easy and perhaps tempting to draw conclusions from having both two such incidents in a relatively short time period,” Alto explained. “But at the same time, I’m assured by police that these incidents are unique and not related and that their investigations will unfold with that assumption.”

 

 

 

https://www.cheknews...-weeks-1197571/

 

 

She said as a city grows and becomes more dense, an increase in crime typically follows, adding that while this is concerning, the downtown core is a safe place.

 

 

 

 

 

Ah yes, "as the city grows".  I'm sure we will in due course find out all the stabbing suspects and victims were new downtown condo owners.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 01 April 2024 - 10:08 PM.

[Nparker]

...while this is concerning, the downtown core is a safe place...

I am sure these words from Mayor Alto will bring great comfort to the friends and family of the person who was stabbed to death in the downtown core of Victoria yesterday. 

[max.bravo]

Nothing more reassuring than for a leader to assure us the obvious problem is not a problem at all. With a hint of “you’re a nimby” for even thinking there’s a problem.

Excellent governance by our woke commie lesbian leader.

[aastra]

 

She said as a city grows and becomes more dense, an increase in crime typically follows, adding that while this is concerning, the downtown core is a safe place.

 

Ah yes, "as the city grows".  I'm sure we will in due course find out all the stabbing suspects and victims were new downtown condo owners.

 

 

The more people you have living downtown, the more stabbings you have. Pretty simple, really.

 

And don't forget all those people eating out in restaurants, drinking at bars, dancing, etc. That's a stabfest.

 

Tourists and cruise ship visitors? Stabber's delight.

 

Probably the only things that don't contribute to the stabbings quotient would be an artificial politically-motivated concentration of poverty, addiction, and exploitation, and also live music (but in selected venues, only).

[aastra]

Seriously though, stabbings and downtown Victoria aren't exactly unacquainted. Even back in the good ol' days (regardless of whether our good ol' days were last year, ten years ago, or forty years ago).

But I don't know why we would boast about "unique and unrelated" incidents. Wouldn't unique and unrelated incidents be a much more relevant indicator of the overall condition of an area than a one-off mad serial stabber?

Heck, does anyone want to count up how many stabbings have there been over the years within earshot of the 1200-block of Douglas? Wasn't that tourist (edit: Raphael Bussieres) from Quebec killed right there not that long ago? (But don't jump to conclusions: it was a unique and unrelated incident.)

Edited by aastra, 02 April 2024 - 10:52 AM.

[aastra]

It's so easy for any community to become jaded about violent crime. "What's the big deal? Violent attacks and murders are the exception here."

 

It's nutty because such crimes will always be the extreme exception rather than the general rule, unless the place in question is literally a war zone or otherwise in total chaos.

 

So it ends up boiling down to how laissez-faire people are going to be about it.

 

File this one in the warehouse of contradictions. We're supposed to be deadly afraid of a stranger's sniffles or his political leanings (or even scarier, his objective lack of any kind of political ideology), but we're also supposed to casually brush off stabbings and murders as long as the frequency and character of the incidents jibes with our norms and expectations. Let's be mature about this and not allow ourselves to be distracted by fluff like violent attacks and/or murders. We have much more serious issues to contend with.

[aastra]

Suffice it to say: public safety, health and welfare, safe spaces, etc. are top priorities except when they're irrelevant.

[aastra]

Hey, if an extremely violent assault is performed in the right manner then I suppose it could translate as a net reduction in strain on the strained medical system. Remember that whole thing about hospital staff and resources being pushed to the breaking point? So sad and scary, how those life-saving resources are so strained.

 

(I know, I know. We're not allowed to consider two different news threads in light of one another. Every narrative should be received as though it exists in complete isolation from every other narrative.)

[Nparker]

...public safety, health and welfare, safe spaces, etc. are top priorities except when they're irrelevant.

On the plus side, there are tampons in men's washrooms now.

[Matt R.]

The more people you have living downtown, the more stabbings you have. Pretty simple, really.

 

And don't forget all those people eating out in restaurants, drinking at bars, dancing, etc. That's a stabfest.

 

Tourists and cruise ship visitors? Stabber's delight.

 

Probably the only things that don't contribute to the stabbings quotient would be an artificial politically-motivated concentration of poverty, addiction, and exploitation, and also live music (but in selected venues, only).

 

Hell, we just had a stabbing here!  Two dudes got into a cab, started arguing, cabbie pulls over and kicks them out and one guy stabbed the other guy in the stomach!  Who does that?!

[Mike K.]

On Salt Spring?

[Matt R.]

yeah!  I'll post the link when there is one. Happened over the weekend.

[Mike K.]

Wowza.

[lanforod]

Looney tunes over there! Run for the hills!

[dasmo]

We need to ban knives obviously!

[spanky123]

Face it folks, everywhere in the world people are randomly stabbed on a regular basis. Law enforcement and politicians are doing a great job.

[Mike K.]

But only the knives with handles that look really menacing.

[aastra]

 

Two dudes got into a cab, started arguing, cabbie pulls over and kicks them out and one guy stabbed the other guy in the stomach!  Who does that?!

 

Pretty common on Salt Spring. Two guys dash out of the office in a hurry and try to grab the same cab, one guy needs to get to upper midtown and the other guy is late for a meeting in the financial district. Knife fight ensues.