Westview Ratepayers Society (WRS) has proposed two motions to City of Powell River councillors regarding supportive housing in the community and housing the unhoused.
At the November 5 committee of the whole meeting, WRS president Rick Craig appeared as a delegation to present the two motions.
Craig said WRS wanted councillors to act on the recommended motions immediately.
“It is our collective view that council should immediately adopt the two motions that we have sent to you,” said Craig. “The first motion asks council to request BC Housing to immediately fund an external, objective and empirical evaluation of the existing housing complex, and further, that this evaluation should be made public and be used to assess the merits and viability of the second BC Housing supportive housing project before any decision is made by council.”
Craig said once the evaluation is completed and published, WRS would assist the community and council to evaluate the merits and viability of the new BC Housing supporting housing proposal.
“We are asking that you adopt the motion to ask for this study,” said Craig.
He said the second motion is not a new ask, and in fact, it’s the third time WRS has raised the matter with council. The development of a comprehensive plan with the city would allow discussion of the needs of the clients and the community, he added.
“What needs to be done is addressing the needs of the unhoused in a more comprehensive and holistic manner,” said Craig. “We are not against providing housing for the unhoused. We want it, but it must be more than just providing housing.
“Programs and services attached to this housing must be properly structured and staffed to help clients address their needs for support and/or treatment.”
The second motion was for the creation of a community task force on housing the unhoused. Craig said WRS is not asking for city staff involvement.
“We believe this task force can be self-run and rely on the expertise of consultants, community representatives and many others to develop the plan we need for going forward,” said Craig. “We believe these motions are reasonable and they are doable, but only if action is undertaken immediately.”
Craig said the requests were endorsed by WRS, Townsite Ratepayers Society and Wildwood Ratepayers Association, so the requests were from all three organizations.
“We all believe that now is the time for council to show leadership and to show to the community it is undertaking the due diligence that is required to build community confidence and the best possible outcome for housing the unhoused in this city,” said Craig.
City councillor Rob Southcott said what Craig was requesting is doable, but he did not agree with sending any work out of town quite yet.
“Metrics for any kind of study need to be decided upon and very carefully defined,” said Southcott.
He said he did not know if he would call the community group a task force, because a task force is designed for one specific purpose. He said he sees a working group extending for longer than the achievement of one specific purpose.
“What I would like to see is a couple of councillors, representatives from Westview Ratepayers Society and I don’t think we need staff,” said Southcott. “I would also like to see a representative from Lift [Community Services]. I would suggest a working group come together and define its own terms of reference.”
Councillor Cindy Elliott said in the city, there is no jurisdiction over housing or homelessness, funding shelters or any operations in the program areas. She said the province often tries to rollout programs that can be consistent in communities, but different communities need different things.
Elliott said what she saw as the weakness of the WRS proposal is putting together people to advocate with someone else who has all the jurisdiction.
“We need to have those folks with the jurisdiction at the table,” said Elliott. “If we step forward and try to take the lead on an issue where we have no jurisdiction, it’s likely to cost us a tonne of money, and even with just volunteers, we still have to implement stuff, and we don’t have the ability of doing that without spending money on it.
“There’s no guarantee spending that money will get us anywhere and we lose our leverage. It’s a balancing act to use the provincial system and make it work for us.”
Craig asked councillors to say yes or no to the proposed motions.
“Let us have an answer,” said Craig. “I don’t expect an answer today, but I would like an answer.”
The committee did not make a motion to forward the WRS motions to city council.
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