“I would there were no age between sixteen and three-and-twenty, or that youth would sleep out the rest;” growls a shepherd in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, “For there is nothing in the between but getting wenches with child, wronging the ancientry, stealing, fighting—Hark you now!”
Last December, Haligonians had their own Winter’s Tale to contend with—the Christmas-time closure of the downtown “Liquor Dome” after a drunken brawl spilled onto frozen streets.
Has Halifax learned from last year’s mistakes? The answer might surprise the shepherd. Youth “between sixteen and three-and-twenty” are hardly asleep— they’re striving to create safety, sustainability, and a sense of community throughout Halifax’s streets.
On Sunday, Sept. 21, the Halifax Student Alliance conducted a student forum at Saint Mary’s University, making the undergrads’ voice heard in the wake of the HRM Violence and Public Safety Report. The forum was a nine-to-five affair, finishing with a community barbeque close at dinnertime. Between breakfast and burgers, student delegates listened to presentations and discussions, brainstorming ways to improve student/community relationships and make the streets safer for everyone.
"The students have come forward"
The authors of the Crime and Public Safety Report, professors Don Clairmont and Chris Murphy, analyzed their research and offered ideas for improvement.
“There are basically two models of public safety … that pertain to the post-secondary students,” explained Dr. Clairmont, director of the Atlantic Institute of Criminology at Dalhousie, “A student model and an authority model.”
The student’s model points out overenthusiastic police response to minor infractions and too much attention to supposed overconsumption of alcohol; the authority model focuses on community complaints caused by students and the irresponsibility which inevitably accompanies inebriation. “We’ve got to get talking about these different models, and we’ve got to reconcile them… post-secondary education is so fundamental to the way of life… that we have in the HRM,” he says.
Dr. Clairmont acknowledged students are working hard to improve the situation. “It’s an issue that has to be addressed—not just for the students, but for the whole of HRM,” he says. “The students have come forward. They’ve done their share… I think, really, we have to be looking at our political leaders in our municipality.”
Dr. Murphy, a professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Dalhousie, echoed Dr. Clairmont’s concerns. “Citizens were complaining. We had a real problem … 4,316 liquor offenses, of which 65 per cent were in the downtown area, were recorded in 2007, and we’re probably well on our way to do the same.”
Students aren’t blameless, said Dr. Murphy, but they are hardly the root of HRM’s safety problems. “Come two to four (a.m.), taxis are hard to find, the buses don’t run, and it’s very hard to get home. This is not just a matter of inconvenience … you have the streets full of lingering, often drunk, young people waiting for cabs or taxis and trying to figure out how to go home, and there’s no transportation available. That is a recipe for more fights and assaults and problems.”
So what’s the solution? “A better working relationship between students as a group, collectively, and the city officials and the police and university officials,” Dr. Murphy suggested in his presentation. “The city police need to understand that all students are not troublemakers … We need some kind of common ground.”
Key issues
A round table was later hosted by John Czenze, chair of the University Neighbourhood Watch Association; Rachel Derrah, coordinator at the Planning and Design Centre; Aubrey Fricker, chair of the Peninsula South Community Association; and Shannon Zimmerman, Board Member of the Dalhousie Board of Governors. Later presentations included a discussion on public transportation, a session on student housing and discussion on “Student Cost of Living and the Affordability of a Nutritious Diet.” Students wanted to know how to support local farmers, avoid deadbeat landlords, and find a safe route home after a night on the town.
The Halifax Student Alliance is, according to their handout, “an organization that advocates to local government on student issues.” Members of the Halifax Student Alliance include the Dalhousie Student Union, the Saint Mary’s University Students’ Association and the NSCC Waterfront Student Association. The HSA was only ratified at Dalhousie last November. Tara Gault, a previous DSU VP and the HSA’s executive director, moderated the forum; DSU president Courtney Larkin and Dalhousie’s Eric Snow also sit on HSA’s board of directors.
“We (the HSA) work on student issues … the key ones are transportation and student housing and crime and violence,” explains Ms. Larkin.
So what issues emerged as hot-button topics throughout the day’s conversation? Transportation is a big concern. Students rely on Metro Transit buses; they need to run on time and can’t turn away students with no other way home. Students also want late-night buses – most stop by midnight, and that fact, combined with unlit stops, can become a safety concern. Other items on the student wish list included community gardens to bolster a school’s cafeteria offerings; safe, affordable housing for students who don’t live in residence; a vote for students who spend the majority of their time in Halifax; and a student representative to smooth relations with Halifax police.
Ms. Larkin and Mr. Snow both enthused they were very happy with the turnout—a crowd of about 50 showed up, surprising for a Sunday morning. “I think it went really well,” says Mr. Snow. “I think we got a good cross section of the different student bodies from the different universities.”
Ready and willing
Samira Bezzina, Sarah Cassar and James Muscat, exchange students from Malta who have been in Halifax for all of two weeks, also took part in the day-long forum. Apparently, even after eight hours of debate on Halifax’s dark side—violence, crime and alcohol consumption—the city retains its charm.
“The people are totally friendly,” enthuses Ms. Bezzina. “I think it’s quite student-friendly… it is a university city, after all, and my impression is that it’s very safe.”
So what’s her favourite thing about Halifax? “The people. I love the people. They’re so helpful. Everywhere you go, they just stop for you … the people are so great.”
Can students and citizens unite to build a Halifax worthy of Ms. Bezzina’s glowing report? “The readiness is all,” Shakespeare’s Hamlet confides. If HSA’s proactive stance and careful planning is any indication, students and youth are indeed ready to build a better community—ready and willing.