More eyes, ears and helping hands are hitting the street in Osborne Village. At The Happy Cooker, owner Mark Bartling said knives have always been kept under lock and key, and staff are trained to handle their sale carefully. “As retailers, we’re not trained in any kind of area with regard to de-escalation or recognizing any kind of addiction,” Bartling said. “That’s not our job, but our job is to remain calm.” Soon, street teams with that type of training will be patrolling the popular area. “Community safety isn’t a part of what we do as BIZ zones. That is really the municipality,” said Zohreh Gervais, executive director of the Osborne Village BIZ. “We are really just a bridge between providing public safety through really just community support.” Gervais said the BIZ has hired eight community safety ambassadors who will walk a patrol route during peak hours starting in May. She said a big part of setting up the team is a response to rising drug issues, and giving people someone to call if they’re feeling uncertain. “People say, ‘I see something happening. I’m not sure if this is a police call or a community service call. Who do I contact for something like this?’ So we want to provide a bit of support in that way,” she said. Bartling said in the 51 years The Happy Cooker has been operating, the area has cycled through many ups and downs when it comes to development and issues of homelessness. “It’s bouncing back right now. You can feel it. There’s new restaurants, there’s new businesses, there’s new apartments and condos,” he said. “We’re moving in the right direction.” He said any area is safer when there are more eyes and ears are around.
