CTV News Edmonton has reported:

Alberta will appoint system navigators at correctional institutions to help coordinate inmate releases, following the circulation of video footage showing inmates being released in Edmonton’s Chinatown. The province said it had met with Chinatown residents and service providers and was taking steps in response to their concerns about safety.

“Our government has met with Chinatown residents and providers and have taken their concerns seriously, taking concrete steps to make their community safer,” the Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Services said in a statement. System navigators generally help people connect with social services, but the province did not explain what the positions would involve.

The ministry said it moved the Edmonton Remand Centre to the outskirts of the city to help keep Chinatown and downtown safer. The former remand centre, on 97 Street, was decommissioned in 2013. The provincial statement came on the same day the New Democrats urged the United Conservative Party government to stop detainee drop-offs in Chinatown and elsewhere immediately.

“Whether you’re running a business in Chinatown, walking home from work, or heading to the Ice District for a hockey game, you should feel safe,” said David Shepherd, MLA for Edmonton-City Centre and Alberta NDP Shadow Minister for Public Safety. “While Minister Ellis has acknowledged the issue, his response denies the realities Chinatown has lived with for years.”

The NDP also called for expanded reintegration and wraparound support services before and after release. It asked the province to require a discharge-and-reintegration plan for high-risk or highly vulnerable offenders before they are released.

“The NDP have some nerve to be fearmongering about disorder in Edmonton’s Chinatown after installing three drug consumption sites in their community during their short-lived time in power,” ministry press secretary Arthur Green said in an emailed statement to CTV News Edmonton. “If the NDP had been paying any attention, they would know our government is already taking real action to address them.”

The province said it has invested in bringing more social supports into the community to address homelessness and help people recover from addiction.