BC Housing minister David Eby is warning of a potential homeless encampment in Penticton after city council rejected a request to keep a temporary winter shelter open for an additional year.

Eby addressed local media on a conference call Wednesday (March 3). The minister said he is 鈥減rofoundly disapointed and a bit baffled鈥� by council鈥檚 decision to vote to close the emergency winter shelter at Victory Church鈥檚 old 352 Winnipeg Street location.

The shelter is currently at capacity, providing beds for 42 people with more trying to get in.

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Eby said he called Penticton mayor John Vassilaki to find out the logic behind council鈥檚 decision this morning but was hung up on.

鈥淯nfortunately when we connected this morning he hung up on me and told me that we wouldn鈥檛 be speaking,鈥� Eby said. 鈥淭his is a very difficult situation and bluntly, in my opinion, I鈥檓 frightened for the leadership within in Penticton.鈥�

Vassilaki said he did speak briefly with Eby this morning but was only given ten minutes to speak and was repeatedly interrupted, leading the mayor to end the call.

Eby is concerned closing the shelter April 1 will force 42 people into the streets and ultimately create a homeless encampment similar to what the province is seeing in Vancouver, Victoria and Nanaimo.

The pandemic has exacerbated the homelessness issue across the province.

The minister said he will do everything possible to prevent a homeless encampment from popping up in Penticton; but, if an encampment does become established, BC Housing will step in to monitor it and has 1,000 tents and sleeping bags available.

Speaking to the importance of preventing an encampment, Eby referenced the time and money spent responding to encampments in Vancouver, Victoria and Nanaimo that have led to 鈥渆xplosions, fires, deaths, and other very serious and troubling incidents鈥� for people living in the encampment and in the nearby areas.

Vassilaki does not believe a homeless encampment will become established in Penticton. The mayor called Eby鈥檚 comments 鈥渋rresponsible鈥� and claimed Eby was 鈥渇ear-mongering鈥�. Vassilaki also insisted that he and council didn鈥檛 create a problem by denying the application from BC Housing.

The mayor pointed to last April when winter shelters closed yet no encampment was established.

鈥淲e didn鈥檛 create no emergency (sic),鈥� he said. 鈥淭he emergency was created by BC Housing by coming forward with an extension without a plan in place.鈥�

To prevent the Victory Church shelter from closing down, Eby may utilize the provincial government鈥� statutory immunity, which would give them power to exempt themselves from local government rules.

However, because BC Housing does not own the Victory Church shelter, using statutory immunity could be problematic if BC Housing is taken to court by Penticton council or an upset resident.

鈥淚 want to ensure people in the shelter and people nearby that despite the fact we don鈥檛 have another site for people to go we are working very hard to identify another site where we can use Paramount C (statutory immunity).

鈥淚n the interim we may be forced into a situation with an encampment and that is the worst case scenario.鈥�

Eby struggled to find the words to express his disappointment in Penticton council. He said other cities across the province have been willing to work on establishing housing solutions, especially during the pandemic when support services are at a minimum.

Since taking the job as housing minister in November, 2020, Eby says he has spent more time speaking with Penticton council than any other city that doesn鈥檛 have an active encampment.

鈥淲e simply can鈥檛 have a situation of another encampment in the province that鈥檚 deliberately created,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 afford to go backwards in Penticton.鈥�

Eby also attempted to debunk the view that the majority of homeless people in Penticton have come from out of town. A view that mayor Vassilaki and councillors .

Approximately 80 percent of Penticton鈥檚 homeless population have lived in the city for more than five years, Eby said.

鈥淭his is a Penticton issue and it鈥檚 one that the province really wants to help Penticton solve.鈥�

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jesse.day@pentictonwesternnews.com
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