Moncton program to help business owners cover cost of break-ins, other crime – New Brunswick | Globalnews.ca
The City of Moncton has launched a pilot program to help businesses offset the costs associated with crime, including break-ins.
The program will offer money to help pay for damages and to improve security in order to prevent crime.
“There’s two streams. The first is rapid response, so for example somebody breaks a window, we replace the window. We cover 100 per cent of the cost up to to the insurance deductible,” said Patrick Richard, the executive director of the Downtown Moncton Centre-ville Inc., which partnered with the city on the project.
“The second stream is more prevention, so if someone wanted to install cameras or fencing or lighting, we cost-share 50 per cent with the property owner.”
The rapid response stream will have a $5,000 limit, while the second stream has a $10,000 limit.
Richard says the downtown core represents 27 per cent of the city’s gross domestic product and this pilot project is a way to protect those revenue-generating businesses.
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However, some argue the funding just isn’t enough.
Jo-Anne Phillips, a business owner and member of the Enough is Enough Coalition, says business owners are frustrated with crime. The coalition has been vocal about the city’s property crime issue,
“Not that we don’t welcome an effort to sort of ease the pain, but it’s really missing the mark,” said Phillips.
“I mean, $5,000 per property is — even for my smaller properties — it’s hardly a drop in the bucket.”
She says she’s had first-hand experience with a break-in, and it’s not just about the money.
“Ultimately it doesn’t change the fact that the property and the person and the business owner feels violated. It doesn’t that we felt unsafe and unprotected,” she said.
The coalition has been advocating for stricter bylaws and increased law enforcement visibility.
Moncton City Council is currently seeking public input on a crime reduction plan, a month ahead of the municipal election in May.
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