Victoria city council is calling on the B.C. government to provide indoor sheltering with supports for everyone without homes in the capital region.
Councillors unanimously passed a motion Thursday thanking the province for its “decisive action” to house people in the homeless camps at Pandora Avenue and Topaz Park, but urging them to leave no one behind.
Coun. Jeremy Loveday said there are people currently sleeping in Beacon Hill and Stadacona parks as well as in vehicles and doorways across the city.
“And it’s my opinion that all of those people should have the same access to housing options as someone who is currently residing in one of the tent cities,” he said.
Solicitor General Mike Farnworth issued a public-safety order last month to evacuate 360 people from the homeless camps and move them into hotels, motels and other facilities by this Saturday.
B.C. Housing reports that 94 people had moved from the Topaz and Pandora camps as of 4 p.m. Wednesday.
Victoria council also urged the province to follow through with providing wrap-around supports for people, including access to safe prescription alternatives to toxic street drugs.
Health officials have warned that the COVID-19 outbreak has compounded the risks associated with B.C.’s ongoing overdose crisis by increasing isolation and disrupting the street-drug supply.
Coun. Sarah Potts cited statistics released by the B.C. Coroners’ Service Thursday showing that there were 113 drug overdose deaths in March — a 60 per cent increase over the previous month — as the COVID-19 pandemic struck B.C.
“The dual public-health emergencies, the closure of social services and ongoing chronic homelessness no doubt played a role in this,” she said.
Potts said the pandemic has opened people’s eyes to the glaring inequities that exist in the community and provides an opportunity to end homelessness by creating permanent housing.
“There are many that don’t want to go back from this,” she said.
As the liaison to Burnside-Gorge, she stressed, however, that housing solutions should be spread across the region rather than concentrated in one municipality or neighbourhood.
B.C. Housing has started moving people from the camps into hotels on Gorge Road, and Potts said residents there are worried about the impact on the neighborhood.
Coun. Geoff Young said better supports and supervision also need to be put in place.
“The fact is, at the moment, given the levels of supervision and support we have now, people of the host neighbourhoods feel preyed upon,” he said. “Certainly, they’ve made that very clear in many letters to us. That should not be the case.”
