File Photo (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By James Peters

Two and Out

PETERS: ‘Go be homeless somewhere else’ is no solution

May 23, 2025 | 12:30 PM

WHERE DO PEOPLE GO when they don’t have a home?

Every city grapples with that question and few have come up with any ideas that are remotely close to broadly satisfactory.

A solution like a day space that may be helpful to people experiencing homelessness and sought by service providers is resisted by business owners, developers and people who have housing nearby.

Conversely, their ideas are often surface level and self-serving.

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“As long as I don’t have to see the problem and deal with it, as long as these folks don’t inconvenience me, that’s good enough.”

“Go be homeless somewhere else,” we say.

That’s no solution at all. It just results in people being shuffled throughout the community on an endless cycle.

No one should be surprised that the elimination of The Loop as a North Shore day space last year has led to an increase in calls for enforcement along the Tranquille corridor.

At a Kamloops council committee meeting this week, city staff reported an uptick in calls for service along Victoria Street, in Valleyview and yes, in the Tranquille business district.

Those could be the medical calls seen by Kamloops Fire Rescue and BC EHS, the petty criminal activity dealt with by Kamloops RCMP or the simple calls for people to be moved along, often fielded by the city’s Community Services Officers.

But where are they moved to?

Onto a merry-go-round of locations where they won’t be seen as little more than a nuisance.

When it was open at the corner of Tranquille Road and Mackenzie Avenue, The Loop was often publicly vilified — sometimes for good reason. Its organizers did some things very well and other things not well at all.

Eliminating it, though, was not a magic bullet for the North Shore.

There is no magic bullet.

The best building blocks include housing, comprehensive mental health and substance use supports — and a great deal of community will and energy by everyone 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.