Safety concerns cited as reason for closure at McDonald’s downtown

KAMLOOPS — The McDonald’s has operated at the Kelson Place building downtown for more than a decade, but the restaurant is no longer in business after the owner-operator cited safety concerns for her employees.

“All of the social disturbances we’ve been facing have just been too much, and our decision to close the restaurant was sped up,” said McDonald’s owner-operator in Kamloops and Merritt Brandy Gozda-Sekhon. “As things got worse in the downtown core, we just didn’t want to be part of it anymore.”

Gozda-Sekhon, who grew up working at the restaurant, acknowledges the street-related issues that led to the closure is not isolated to McDonald’s. It’s a city-wide concern. However, she’s saddened by what is happening in Kamloops.

“Kamloops is an amazing city to live in. I’ve grown up here and things are happening that shouldn’t,” she said. “We need to come together as business owners, as community leaders, and as community to just make things better.”

The location’s closure prompted a response from the mayor’s office on Monday, citing the safety concerns at the McDonald’s are related to mental health issues and not criminal issues.

“People have to realize there’s a large street-affected population here in Kamloops and in every other city around us,” noted Kamloops mayor Ken Christian. “We need to do more. There’s no question about that. Myself and council are committed to doing that. We’re trying to find best practices wherever they might be to employ those here in Kamloops.”

Among his list of solutions is the expansion of Car 40, which Christian has long advocated for, as well as a sobering centre in the city and more recovery beds.

“In many of the incidents that we find, the police are not best resource. In fact, often they’re the resource of last resort. You’re better off to apply a softer touch with mental health professionals, addiction people, and they have more success in terms of defusing some of those situations,” Christian said.

Christian says it’s unfortunate the McDonald’s has decide to shut down, but he adds businesses come and go in the city, and overall, despite the pandemic, business licenses are up.

For owner-operator Brandy Gozda-Sekhon, it’s the end of an era for Kamloops residents like herself who worked at the downtown location.

“It was so much fun working until three in the morning down there. It was busy. There were so many people, and to see this happen it’s just not the Kamloops we all loved. It’s too bad.”