North Shore neighbours call for changes ahead of council debate on Pathways shelter permit

“There are tens of thousands of complaints, emails, people’s time taken out of their day just to address what is happening over there,” said Guido. “Clearly, even bringing this to council for an extension of three years shouldn’t even be on the table. We know what is happening. We know that the safety of people is a concern.”

“We are paying millions of dollars to help people get off the streets and save their lives – it’s clearly not working. Is this pilot project working? From what I’m seeing, it’s not working right now,” added Guido.

For 21 years, Valarie Johnson and her husband have lived and worked along Tranquille Road. With Pathways open, they’re fed up and looking to sell.

“We had cameras here – they ripped our cameras down. They have defecated on our fences, used lady-products out the front, bandages from somebody’s wound – and I’m the one who has to pick it up,” Johnson told CFJC News.

Jeremy Cain of ASK Wellness noted since it opened, more than 300 people have utilized Pathways, with 16 clients transitioned into housing and nine others accessed detox and recovery.

“[It would render] 44 individuals immediately into homelessness if you weren’t operating the shelter. These folks were primarily living and sleeping on the North Shore. We focused on that a lot for Pathways,” said Cain. “Losing a 44-bed shelter at a time when the homeless count has already increased, I think it would kind of exacerbate those issues, not have the mitigation some folks would hope for.”

Understanding the concern, he highlighted the neighbours issues aren’t necessarily tied to them.

“For the individuals who have stayed here, I don’t think any problems have occurred with those particular individuals,” said Cain. “A lot of the time, it’s just the surrounding issues and folks who are attached or around the area at the same time. It draws a really negative light on the individuals who are staying here.”

“This is why, as a province, we need to invest in and continue to focus on a wide range of programming that includes recovery, that includes second-stage housing, recovery-based housing. This is a very small part of a larger continuum,” added Cain. “I’m proud of what we’ve been able to do here at the shelter. It’s a challenging service environment and it’s a very difficult time to try to help folks improve their lives when a lot of those services aren’t there to attach them to.”

City council is set to consider the permit on Tuesday (March 10), in what is mostly a bureaucratic step to begin a longer process. But while the extension can’t be approved this week, it could be swiftly rejected.

“It’s not working where it is. There has to be a better place,” said Guido. “We need to make sure we are taking care of them. We don’t want to throw anybody to the wolves but we also don’t want financial hardship on ourselves. We are funding these projects, and we are okay to fund these projects because we are Canadian and that is what we do – we help each other out. But there has to be a line somewhere.”

“My message to the council is, ‘You sat there, you looked at us and you promised us one thing. Election time is coming up again and it’s up to you guys to make sure the citizens of Kamloops are happy as you guys work for us and represent us,'” added Guido.

The North Shore Business Improvement Association is currently conducting consultation with local businesses in the area on the issues and hopes to share that information later this week.

by Michael Reeve

North Shore neighbours call for changes ahead of council debate on Pathways shelter permit

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