B.C. government says its data doesn’t support Merritt RCMP claim of newcomers driving crime

Those stakeholder conversations, however, may be hard to get started, as despite the figures coming directly from RCMP files, the B.C. government, in a statement to CFJC News, is standing firm, saying its own data does not show the same issue.

“Provincial data does not support the claim that large numbers of people experiencing homelessness are moving from one B.C. community to another. Most people experiencing homelessness are local residents of the communities where they are counted,” reads a statement from a Ministry of Housing spokesperson.

Minister Christine Boyle was not made available for an interview.

The ministry also quoted data from the 2025 PIT Count in Merritt in its written response.

“During the 2025 Point-in-Time Homeless Count, 98 per cent of respondents reported living in Merritt or the Nicola Valley for at least one year, while 81 per cent reported they’d been in the community for five years or more,” reads the statement. “Our data shows nearly all people staying at the Knights Inn shelter this week have been in Merritt for at least two years – predating the opening of the shelter in January 2025.”

“We’ve been watching this and following it along. We know that there is a breakdown with the provincial government and their failed drug policy. This is all going back to that,” said Fraser-Nicola MLA Tony Luck. “The lack of really compassionate care, in the sense that these people are kind of warehoused as it is anyways – why isn’t there the treatment and services that go along with it?”

If the issues in Merritt persists, it’s likely the government will soon be receiving an invoice from the city’s mayor, totaling nearly half-a-million dollars for additional bylaw and RCMP officers and medical responses undertaken by Merritt’s fire department.

“No community is budgeted to cover homelessness. That is the province’s responsibility – not ours,” said Goetz. “And that is part of this meeting, and that is why MLA Luck is going to be there and BC Housing is going to be there, I hope. The fact is, the province has to get real about this homeless situation. You cannot continue to just turn a blind eye.”

“A lot if it is economic. The government is not fully funding their programs that have landed in places like Merritt,” added Merritt’s CAO Rick Green. “We are way oversubscribed. We have 44 beds in the shelter and we probably have 70 or so people out there who need housing.”

Goetz is also looking to the Crown, hoping to see more charges get approved.

“When RCMP make [charge recommendations], the Crown has to start charging these people. When they say things like, ‘Well, it’s not worth it to even bring them in. Just confiscate the drugs and let them go,’ that is unacceptable. We can’t have that,” said Goetz.

by Michael Reeve

B.C. government says its data doesn’t support Merritt RCMP claim of newcomers driving crime

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