B.C. Premier David Eby and public safety minister Mike Farnworth will lead an event in Nanaimo about repeat violent offenders on Wednesday, April 12. (NanaimoNewsNOW/BC Government photos)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

repeat offenders

Premier Eby, public safety minister Farnworth to headline major event in Nanaimo

Apr 11, 2023 | 3:06 PM

NANAIMO — Following months of escalating violent crime, the provincial government is showing up in full force in the Harbour City.

Premier David Eby will lead a significant government event in front of the provincial courthouse at 35 Front St. on Wednesday, April 12 at 12:30 p.m.

Public safety minister Mike Farnworth is also set to feature, alongside attorney general Nikki Sharma.

It’s not known what, if any, policy announcements will be made, however an advisory for the event is calling it a “media availability about initiatives addressing repeat violent offending.”

The event will be live-streamed through provincial government social media channels.

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Nanaimo MLA Sheila Malcolmson, who serves as minister for social development and poverty reduction, as well as Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog are listed as participants.

Island District RCMP commander Supt. Ray Carfantan is also slated to attend.

Calls for significant provincial intervention into worsening crime in Nanaimo and elsewhere across B.C. have grown in recent months.

A string of violent assaults, stabbings and shootings, including some fatal, put Nanaimo on a national map.

In late January, a man was stabbed to death in the parking lot of Port Place Shopping Centre in the city’s downtown.

Some of the other incidents in Nanaimo to occur since the start of 2023 include a man wanted on previous incidents in the Cowichan Valley allegedly breaking into two Cedar-area homes, a 30-year-old man being hit with the blunt end of an axe along Front St., and a man receiving wounds to his face after being shot outside a downtown hotel.

Several other firearms-related incidents were also reported, including a road-rage fuelled shooting in early February on Northfield Rd. where the suspect is facing an attempted murder charge.

Local rallies demanding additional public safety measures, including targeting repeat offenders, were held in early January, then again after the shooting of a Nanaimo business owner in March.

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