Police Board Calls for City Action on Downtown Safety Amid Sharp Criticism of Social Services
The Owen Sound Police Services Board is asking City Council to convene a multi-stakeholder meeting to address downtown safety concerns, public disorder, and impacts on local businesses.
A formal request from the Owen Sound Police Service Board will come before City Council this Monday, calling for urgent discussions on the growing safety concerns and business challenges facing the city’s downtown core.
The letter, approved unanimously at the Police Service Board's April 23 meeting, urges council to organize a roundtable meeting involving the River District Board, the Owen Sound & District Chamber of Commerce, downtown business owners, local police, provincial and federal prosecutors, and Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound’s MPP.
Rising Concerns Over Downtown Safety
Board members cited what they described as a significant shift in public sentiment, noting that where visitors and business owners once felt uncomfortable downtown, many now report feeling unsafe. The letter references businesses locking their doors during open hours and public drug use as key concerns. “This is no longer acceptable,” it states.
The motion, introduced by Mayor Ian Boddy and seconded by board member Carol Merton, points to the city’s own Nuisance Bylaw as a framework that underscores public well-being and enjoyment of public spaces—principles the board argues are under threat.
The board also raised concerns about the effectiveness of current community programming and enforcement strategies, calling for a shift toward proactive measures as summer approaches and foot traffic increases in the downtown area.
Tone Shifts as Meeting Turns Political
What began as a structured discussion on enforcement tools and downtown conditions quickly shifted in tone, as board members voiced frustration over social service responses, public substance use, and perceived inaction, often relying on anecdotal accounts and politically charged commentary.
The video is available in full on the Owen Sound Police YouTube channel.
Chair John Thompson began by questioning why business owners are locking their doors and monitoring traffic flow into their businesses when their stores are empty.
“I’ve heard anecdotally that there’s nothing that can be done about this. Based on this Nuisance By-law, I think there are some things,” Thompson said.
Owen Sound’s Nuisance By-law, created in 2024, is designed to give police and bylaw officers specific enforcement tools aimed at addressing disruptive or unsafe behaviour in public spaces—measures that may be particularly relevant in responding to concerns raised about downtown safety and street-level disorder.
The by-law prohibits actions such as public urination, defecation, vomiting, and spitting; obstructing sidewalks; loitering; engaging in fights; vandalism; littering; and disorderly conduct. Officers are authorized to intervene when these behaviours occur and may order individuals to stop, issue fines, or take additional enforcement steps where necessary.
It also gives officers the authority to inspect public spaces, require individuals to identify themselves, and issue orders to cease nuisance activity or take corrective actions. These powers allow for immediate responses to behaviour deemed harmful to public safety or the use and enjoyment of shared spaces.
While the by-law includes provisions for recovering costs through property-related mechanisms, these are less applicable in cases involving individuals who are unhoused. Instead, the focus in such situations would likely be on visible enforcement and compliance measures.
Chief Ambrose outlined a shift in police strategy beginning in January 2025 to address substance use in public spaces more directly, including enforcement of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. He said that police officials are conducting outreach to downtown businesses to learn more about the experiences they’re having.
He noted that all possession charges go to a “clearinghouse” in Toronto for a decision and there is no local office or influence. It’s something Ambrose said his department continues to look into.
He emphasized the need for coordinated, proactive enforcement and called for alignment with bylaw services.
Tone Shifts as Members Debate Harm Reduction and ‘Balance’
“You guys might remember, I don’t know, a certain Mayor that had a little hissy fit in the Council Chamber for dog poop in the street a few years ago after the winter,” Mayor Ian Boddy said. “This year, it wasn’t dog poop that the mayor was getting all the calls about… it was needles.”
It’s unclear who Mayor Boddy was referring to, or how his comments characterizing a former Mayor’s concerns as a “hissy fit” were relevant to the discussion about community safety.
He continued, “We’ve got an agency that is commenting on the pounds of clothes they’re distributing each day, or each week, or each month, whatever… and we’ve got a Work Department staff that’s (sic) cleaning up those clothes and trying to catch up to the needles that are given out for free… you’ve got that ‘San Francisco’ thing.”
Again, Boddy doesn’t name who it is he’s speaking of. But he goes on to comment that he receives phone calls from people who are afraid to drive, let alone walk, on 8th St E. However, Safe ‘N Sound is located on that street.
(The San Francisco reference, he later explained, was to an article about how that city distributes needles to drug users only alongside counselling and other services.)
He questioned at what point it becomes irresponsible to give out needles and where the point of balance exists between keeping people with addictions alive and the risk needles create for the rest of the community.
“Somewhere, there’s a balance, and I don’t think we’re in balance right now,” Boddy said.
He said these issues should be discussed at the Community Safety Action Tables, a collaborative effort by Grey County to bring local groups together to tackle tough issues as part of its Community Safety and Well-Being Plan (CSWBP).
Chair Thompson pointed out that business owners aren’t part of those discussions.
“The last time we did do this, certain business owners and operators stood up and said things that were right on the spectrum, and got jumped pretty quickly by most of the social agencies, and left,” Boddy said. It was unclear what meeting and which agencies he was referring to.
Board Calls for Action, But is Light on Data
For his part, community board member Brian O’Leary questioned why the City needed to strike a balance at all.
“Empathy takes over with these agencies and it’s all about enabling. And as long as we’re enabling them, then we’re hurting people like you and I that are taking our grandchildren downtown,” O’Leary stated, in a continuation of the “Us vs Them” perspective he brought to Council before being defeated in the last election.
O’Leary then claimed to have received insider information from a County employee who “stays in touch with all the homeless people.” The employee allegedly told him the program they run doesn’t work as “it’s backfired,” and that they don’t have statistics on program success because “they don’t want you to have those statistics.”
There is no Grey County employee by the name O’Leary mentioned who is responsible for collecting homelessness and drug addiction statistics. It is unclear who the “they” he refers to may be, who purportedly doesn’t want the community to have accurate statistics.
The meeting continued in this way, long on anecdotes and opinions but woefully short on data.
Near the end of the discussion, Inspector Bishop brought the conversation back to facts and echoed the need for stronger legal tools and announced efforts to reengage the Public Prosecution Service of Canada to support possession charges.
Council to Decide May 26
The Board questioned whether City bylaw staff should begin actively enforcing the Nuisance By-law as part of a coordinated approach, and passed a motion requesting that City Council convene a meeting with downtown stakeholders to address these issues.
City Council will review the request at its regular meeting on Monday, May 26. The letter is available on the City website as part of the Council agenda.
Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article said the letter recipients included Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MPP Rick Byers. The current MPP is Paul Vickers.
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