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Two & Out

PETERS: TRU, City of Kamloops, students all look bad in housing flap

Sep 24, 2021 | 11:21 AM

NO ONE REALLY LOOKS GOOD in the mess with Thompson Rivers University student housing right now — not TRU and not the City of Kamloops.

TRU was surprised by the number of unhoused students who showed up this fall and thus, the school is trying to find a solution for them.

It has proposed temporary modular housing be put up in one of its parking lots – not dissimilar to housing used in work camps in northern Alberta and, in fact, in many places in B.C., too.

And it’s really not that dissimilar from the housing that was erected along Mission Flats Road.

One might argue it is up to the students themselves to find housing before school starts – and it is, but it’s also easy to see why so many students had problems this year.

The Kamloops housing market has tightened considerably since the last time students came for in-person learning in the fall of 2019.

It’s hard for anyone to find a place to stay in this city, let alone someone trying to line things up from out-of-country.

TRU doesn’t look great because of how it failed to anticipate this situation.

It is truly scrambling now, when an accurate reading of the city’s housing market would have made it absolutely clear that this situation would be created come September.

And the City of Kamloops looks highly uncharitable in its handling of the issue.

On the one hand, students absolutely deserve to live in safe housing — even if on a temporary basis.

But on the other hand, what is happening to them now? Where are they staying in the meantime?

Some are paying exorbitant rates to stay in hotels. Others are crammed into units well above their occupancy limits.

Certainly, there is reason to believe this situation is an emergency, even if it is not a natural disaster or calamity that caused it.

CAO David Trawin told us TRU can certainly address the deficiencies in their proposal and come back.

Hopefully that’s the case because, emergency or not, this situation needs to be dealt with quickly, not only for safety’s sake but also for the sake of the reputations of all involved.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.

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