Families of murdered Chinatown victims urge Edmonton city council to act

On May 24th, the daughter of one of the men killed in Chinatown last week, as well as other community members urged Edmonton’s city council to do more to make Chinatown safer.

“My mom does not have anyone to go home to anymore,” said Christina Trang, tearfully, “I do not have a dad to call on for anything I may need in the future.”

Trang vocalized that she and others no longer feel safe in Chinatown, and it’s been a problem overlooked by the city for a long time.

“How do you guys feel the situation in Chinatown is acceptable?” questioned Trang to city counsellors, “When’s the last time one of you guys stepped foot into that place? It’s completely destroyed my confidence and many others [that] the city is looking after its communities and its citizens.”

Ban Hoang was the second man killed in Chinatown last week. A family spokesperson scolded city leaders, saying they misallocate resources instead of making sure Chinatown is safe.

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“I speak for the community when I say, ‘We told you so!’ said Hon Leong, “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.”

After that meeting, Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said he heard Edmonton police had to divert foot patrol officers from Chinatown because of protests happening downtown – but he says the police chief will rectify that.

“Absolutely we need more enforcement to deal with the criminal element in the community, but we also need to make sure that we’re having a compassionate, trauma-based approach to tackling the societal issues that are causing some of that pain,” said Sohi.

The two murders happened in Councillor Anne Stevenson’s ward. She claimed violence in Chinatown has been an issue for years.

“I think we can all recognize that there is a history here, but that responsibility is now firmly on us, and we need to take that on,” said Stevenson. “It’s for us to resolve and move forward – there’s no question there in my mind.”

Whatever council decides in the days or weeks ahead, the families of the deceased, as well as the Chinatown community, will be watching.

“Chinatown needs improvement,” declared Trang, “Everybody wants to feel safe going through Chinatown… and we no longer feel safe in our own community.”