There appears to be a divide in expectations related to safety concerns raised by musicians performing in the capital city’s downtown.

A downtown safety coalition was formed including business owners, musicians, the RNC and city officials among others, with a meeting held last night.

RNC outlined their mandate and the difficulties in allocating extra resources to the downtown, but musicians attending last night’s meeting felt the gathering fell short of expectations.

Musicians are concerned about illicit drug activity and an increase in violent incidents and they no longer feel safe leaving gigs with their equipment.

Singer/songwriter Evan Aucoin attended last night’s meeting and told VOCM Open Line with Paddy Daly, he felt the agenda was too rigid and all they want is an increased police presence.

He suggests a number of proactive measures, from setting up barriers to prevent people from getting too close to the stage, to having a greater police presence in the downtown “even to help the public perception.”

Aucoin was dissatisfied with the structure of the meeting.

He says it appears as though what was requested of the RNC was different from what they were told and he believes “everybody went into that situation kind of blind last night.”

Coady: Issues Not Exclusive to Downtown

Don-E Coady of the George Street Association says violent and aggressive behavior in the downtown is on the rise, not unlike other areas.

He says the situation is not unusual given systemic issues throughout society. The major takeaway according to Coady is that people support each other and that incidents are reported to police as they happen.