Use the right response, from the right service, at the right time.

Public safety

Match the service to the problem.

North Vancouver relies on police, fire, health services, bylaws, emergency management, outreach and community organizations. Police should focus on crime, violence, immediate threats and situations where police powers are required.

• Use mental-health professionals and outreach services when they are better suited.
• Strengthen practical North Shore crisis-response partnerships.
• Do not make police the default response to every social or health problem.

Public safety is bigger than policing.

Police funding and accountability

Base resources on workload and measurable service outcomes.

Publish an annual North Vancouver policing report using reliable local information.

• Calls for service
• Response times
• Crime trends
• Staffing and workload
• Complaint information
• Measurable service outcomes

Municipal reporting should focus on local performance and service, not duplicate independent police-oversight bodies.

Mental health and health

Coordinate access without pretending the City is a health authority.

Health care is primarily a provincial and Vancouver Coastal Health responsibility. The City should use its actual responsibilities to help residents reach appropriate services.

• Land use and public space
• Emergency management
• Housing
• Outreach partnerships
• Service navigation
• Community coordination

Accessibility

Build accessibility in from the beginning rather than retrofit it later.

Design City buildings, sidewalks, crossings, parks, public spaces, information, engagement and digital services so people with disabilities and mobility challenges can use them independently and safely.

• Accessible design also helps seniors, families with strollers, children and people with temporary injuries.
• Publish annual progress on identified barriers and what has been removed through the City’s accessibility planning and reporting process.

Reconciliation and Indigenous Nations

Build direct working relationships that produce practical results.

Maintain government-to-government relationships with the Squamish Nation and Tsleil-Waututh Nation.

• Involve Nations early on major plans and projects affecting shared interests.
• Do not wait until a preferred solution is effectively fixed.
• Remove unnecessary municipal barriers to Nation-led and Indigenous non-profit housing.
• Coordinate planning, servicing and infrastructure where appropriate.
• Better recognize Indigenous history, culture and place in planning, heritage and public spaces.

A respectful working relationship should produce practical results, not reconciliation only in statements and ceremonies.