‘A wound in our city’: Edmonton’s Chinatown community in mourning, demanding change

Frustration is mounting for a member of Edmonton’s Chinatown community who says it should not take two homicides for the city to act.

Hon Leong, the chair of the Chinatown Transformation Collaborative, says the community no longer feels safe in the area.

BACKGROUND: Man in custody, charged following two deaths in Chinatown on Wednesday

This comes after two men – Hung Trang, 64, and Ban Phuc Hoang, 61 – were killed in Chinatown in separate attacks. Police have charged a man with two counts of second-degree murder.

An autopsy report issued Wednesday showed Hung died of blunt force injuries to the head.

“The fact that we have to have two deaths – not just one, but two – in order to have city council hear us,” said Hon Leong.

Hon Leong spoke at a city council meeting Tuesday urging councillors to make the area safer. Family and friends of the two victims also spoke.

“I speak for the community when I say, ‘We told you so,’ Hon Leong told councillors Tuesday. “We knew this would happen. Decisions about the future of Chinatown are being made by people who do not care, or understand the challenges we face as a community every day.”

Council followed up by passing a motion for $300,000 in one-time funding for immediate needs in the Chinatown area.

But Leong says he wants to see more awareness than money thrown at an issue.

“This is not something that is just about Chinatown,” he told CityNews. “This is about our city. We have a wound in our city, and in certain parts of our city, that we all need to fix, and we need to heal and find ways to improve our quality of life and how we enjoy being Edmontonian.”

READ MORE: Families of murdered Chinatown victims urge Edmonton city council to act

Ward O-day’min Coun. Anne Stevenson claims the city is now prioritizing safety and cleanup initiatives in Chinatown. She says residents should see more of those on-the-ground efforts in the coming weeks.

“A lot of this budget was approved back in December,” Stevenson said. “So just taking time to onboard people, get those teams up and running, so I think that’s been a bit of the lag there. But really pushing to make sure that those resources are out and visible.”

Edmonton police say they are increasing patrols in Chinatown in the first phase of their most recent plan to make downtown safe.

The move, says EPS Insp. Angela Kemp, is “to speak with the community, the business owners, the shelters, the vulnerable people who are sleeping in encampments, in order to have their perspective of what’s happening to ensure that there’s a reduction in criminality and victimization in these areas.”

Kemp said the first phase started Tuesday and police are working on a deployment strategy for the rest of the summer.