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“We have people coming down from the suburbs and drinking all night,” he said, leading to what his motion calls “street disorder and gender-based violence.”

He said allowing sidewalk restaurant patios would put more eyes on the streets and reduce the likelihood of people congregating outside and fights breaking out.

Flexible closing times would eliminate the problem of “the mass exodus of people into the street all at once” when bars all close at 3 a.m.

“That feeds into the problems on the street,” he said. “The problems aren’t in the bars, it’s outside the bars.”

His motion also calls for a review of use of city cameras, which would augment the cameras that many bars and nightclubs already operate.

Affleck also proposes diverting buses to other streets and getting rid of the parking spots on the sidewalk to help to make the street more people-friendly and make room for street festivals and concerts.

And he’s calling for an increase in late-night public transportation and taxi or ride-hailing options.

“The big thing is transportation,” said Curtis Robinson, a former Vancouver police officer and chair of BarWatch. He said because of the lack of an all-night SkyTrain service and the cost-prohibitive option of taking a cab home, some bar-goers linger downtown, waiting for the first SkyTrain at 5 a.m.

Photo by Gerry Kahrmann / PNG

But he said the killing of Thind was a “very, very rare occurrence” because BarWatch permanently barred gang members and it’s safer now than in 2007.