Kamloops council funds sobering centre business case, puts province, Interior Health on blast

Social, Housing and Community Development Manager Carmin Mazzotta told council many factors have changed since that document was formulated, including the scale of the crisis both provincially and locally.

At its regular meeting Tuesday (May 30), council approved $30,000 to put together an updated business case.

In the meantime, several councillors blasted the governments and authorities who had failed to act in the past decade.

“If you go back to 2016, for whatever reason, it was falling on deaf ears,” said Councillor Kelly Hall. “We weren’t get any traction. It’s really important to understand that, when you don’t have partners playing in the same sandbox, it becomes very difficult for the city to do things that we want to do.”

Councillor Bill Sarai said he wasn’t shy to place the blame on Interior Health.

“The common denominator here — Victoria, Campbell River, Surrey, Duncan, [Prince George] — not one of them has dealt with Interior Health,” said Sarai. “It’s not the province that has to be totally blamed here. They probably have money available, it’s our [organization] here, Interior Health, that’s saying ‘No, we’re okay. We’re doing just fine.’ I’m telling you right now, all of us know we aren’t doing just fine.”

Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson inquired whether part of the business case presented by Prince George — the most recent community to have its sobering centre approved — could be replicated in Kamloops.

Mazzotta responded he feels it is important for Kamloops to do its own work and “put its best foot forward.”

The business case is expected to be ready for presentation to Mental Health and Addictions Minister Jennifer Whiteside by the end of the year.

by James Peters

Kamloops council funds sobering centre business case, puts province, Interior Health on blast

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