The frustration coming from Reilly Heffernan is multi-faceted.
The owner of O’Reilly’s Source for Sports on Algonquin Blvd. says he’s lost count of how often during his seven years of business his store’s been burglarized. He thinks it’s nine — not counting all the attempts. That includes the most recent try.
“The person didn’t get in because we’ve put up steel on our windows, something I didn’t think Timmins businesses would have ever had to have done 20 years ago, but it’s the reality today,” he remarks. “Now they’re coming in through my floor and my wall, you name it.”
“It increases the cost of doing business because now I’m paying $1,000 insurance deductible, my insurance premiums are going up,” he goes on, “I have to pay for steel to bar up my windows and the labour to do it. It’s come at a great cost for sure.”
Heffernan adds there’s only so much a small business can bear.
Assuming that many of the break-ins are to support drug habits and mental problems, he urges the perpetrators to reach out for help from all the services that offer it.
And he says the justice system has to change, cutting down on the number of criminals who get bail… only to continue offending.
There’s a lot more in this audio link of our conversation with Reilly Heffernan: