PETERS: Focus on hometowns doesn’t help address street chaos in Merritt – or anywhere

BC Housing is pushing back against Roda’s comments, saying the government has its own stats that show the vast majority of those accessing services have called Merritt home for at least a year or two.

Set aside for a moment the nebulous nature of the question, ‘Where are you from?’

The answer would only really matter if Merritt was a special case.

We in Kamloops know there have long been conversations about where the folks who spend their time on our streets are actually from.

And we’re used to hearing the rumour social agencies are busing people into the community – a rumour that has never been supported by actual evidence.

The conversation happens in other small-but-growing communities, too. Residents are flummoxed when their cozy towns encounter big-city challenges.

Even though Roda’s argument is beside the point, there is still a point. The government needs to address its approach to social services and public safety.

This population is, by definition, transient and while the individuals on the street may or may not move around, the broader issue is the same all over the province.

It’s dominating the conversation in Merritt, in Kamloops, in Salmon Arm, in Vernon, in Prince George, in Kelowna, in Abbotsford, in Vancouver – every community is grappling with a problem too complex for it to handle on its own.

Individual service providers are not putting people on the streets, they are not preventing them from access to the proper treatments, they are not making them commit crimes of desperation.

These agencies are feeling just as overwhelmed by the situation on the streets as the rest of us.

There may be room for improvement on the service providers’ side, but there is much more room for improvement on the side of the government responsible for health care and public safety.

Pointing at home addresses doesn’t help matters.

——

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.

by James Peters

PETERS: Focus on hometowns doesn’t help address street chaos in Merritt – or anywhere

Our Community