New provincial legislation may handcuff local governments when dealing with homeless encampments.
Coun. Kari Gares told her colleagues, the gallery, and those watching online the Vernon council meeting Monday, Dec. 11, about the NDP’s Bill 45 – the Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act which deals specifically with homeless encampments. The Act was given Royal Assent at the end of November.
“We no longer have the ability to take down a homeless encampment unless it meets certain criteria,” said Gares.
The criteria includes a person in the camp having access to basic needs for shelter, if they can stay overnight at or near a shelter, having bathroom or shower access at or near a shelter, and access to one meal a day with no charge.
Gares also mentioned in November an encampment behind Kal Tire Place. She brought forward the information Monday for the public’s awareness.
“It’s not going to be that easy to manage encampments, and we do know they pop up from time to time, basically without the city working directly with service providers to find acceptable places for them to reside,” she said.
Such encampments were a topic of discussion at a November Vernon council meeting.
Coun. Brian Quiring requested help on getting a camp on Highway 97 near the Swan Lake Nature Reserve cleaned up, citing a report from BX-Swan Lake fire chief Bill Wacey, who said the area is a “hazmat site due to the garbage.”
Wacey said the camp is “leaching into a natural bird sanctuary,” and he won’t send his firefighters in unless they have oxygen.
That particular camp is neither in the City of Vernon or in the Regional District of North Okanagan, but rather the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MOTI).
Coun. Akbal Mund said MOTI should be responsible for cleaning it up.
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