Chinatown reflects on safety in the community on anniversary of homicides

Members of Edmonton's Chinatown community gathered Friday to mark a year since two locals were killed on the same day in random acts of violence.

Dozens attended a traditional Buddhist ceremony downtown for 61-year-old Ban Phuc Hoang and 64-year-old Hung Trang.

Both men died of blunt force injuries after being attacked while at work at separate businesses in Chinatown. The accused, Justin Bone, faces two counts of second-degree murder.

Among those paying their respects were police chief Dale McFee, mayor Amarjeet Sohi and several other city councillors.

"It's very difficult to recover from this kind of senseless act of violence," Sohi said. "Particularly when you know it could have been avoided, so the community is still reeling.

"Families still going through the grief, and the pain and the trauma of losing their loved ones."

After the ceremony, Hung Trang's daughter asked the mayor and city council to do more to address crime in the area.

"As I reflect on the one year anniversary of my father's passing, I can't help but question if anything has truly changed," she said. "Has our city become any safer?"

The City of Edmonton and the Alberta government have announced several initiatives to tackle crime in downtown Edmonton.

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Trang said those efforts are not enough.

"Random assaults and murders in our city have increased more than ever," Trang added. "How does our city council think they are doing what is best for Edmontonians?

"Let's just say, the current approach is not working."

Sohi agreed with Trang that more needs to be done to address crime in Chinatown.

Increased police presence, more supportive housing and extended funding for day shelters are positive changes, Sohi said. But there's only so much councillors can do, he added.

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"There is a limited amount of resources and authority the city has," Sohi said. "That's why it's so important that we continue to work with the provincial government to convince them that we have solutions.

"Let's start scaling up those solutions."

Trang said the deployment of the Healthy Street Operation Centre, a joint dispatch for police, paramedics and social agency partners, has helped the area. But she questioned plans to bring more social agencies to Chinatown.

In March, Boyle Street Community Services said the agency would be moving from its current location to 107A Avenue and 101 Street. That decision was questioned at the time by the McCauley Community League and several Chinatown groups.

"No amount of money can resolve social disorders without deconcentrating social services," she stated.

Trang said other initiatives, like the newly launched $2.5 million Clean City Initiative, are not helpful.

"Focusing on marketing plans and the beautification of neighbourhoods while people and businesses are driven out by social disorder is not a good use of [council's] time and tax dollars," she added.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Nahreman Issa and Sean Amato