PRINCE GEORGE – It’s been a contentious issue for months. The camp at the corner of First Avenue and George Street and Council has opted to be rid of it.
About time, says one Councilor who has been especially vocal.
“Public safety, is our responsibility,” says Councillor Kyle Sampson. “And the encampment on First and George Street is not safe. The density is so extreme that we’re asking for problems in there. First responders can’t get in. I’ve been calling for this to be shut down for months. And we’ve been begging, asking, and pleading with the province to help us on this. We came to an understanding with an MOU back in June thinking that would provide rapid response to this issue, which is what the MOU speaks to, but we haven’t seen that yet.”
What, Councilor Kyle Sampson is referencing was a visit from Premier David Eby in June when this commitment was made.
“Mayor, you and I have just signed an agreement that formalizes our commitment to working together to help people sheltering outdoors move inside and eventually into safe, stable, and supportive permanent homes. Our Memorandum of Understanding also includes a shared commitment to preventing encampments from taking hold in the first place,” the Premier noted at a joint news conference with members of Council.
A statement issued from the Minister of Housing expressed disappointment at Council’s decision.
”And we know the encampments are not safe for individuals living in them for the community,” states Ravi Kahlon. “But we also know just moving people without shelter doesn’t actually solve the problem. It just moves people to different areas in the city. And and so we’re disappointed that they took that action when we were at the table with them, hand in hand, looking at solutions to make sure that both the community stay safe and those individuals get the supports that they desperately need.”
The statement further notes:
“We had offered Prince George new resources like dedicated encampment response staff and deployment of temporary housing units to the community. Despite that, council has chosen not to access those resources to assist people living in Millennium Park, to move indoors and to move unilaterally with this document and the absence of appropriate resources.”
Sure, says Councilor Sampson, noting nothing has transpired since the amount you were assigned. And he says that’s unfortunate because the community and everyone in it needs help.
“We need resources brought here to help the folks who are living and experiencing homelessness and experiencing drug addiction and experiencing all sorts of mental health issues in the downtown. We need those resources in our community. That’s why we’ve so aggressively pursued partnership and collaboration with the province and came to that MOU, and we need action from that as well. Now. So absolutely, I’m optimistic that we’ll continue to work with the province, but we need them to step up on their jurisdictional opportunities and responsibilities, and we’ll do the same on own.”
But the minister responsible was quick to rebut that assertion.
“The council is wrong. Because if they check with staff, they’ll know that our staff has been meeting with them every week, talking about locations, what’s viable, what is safe, where is safe? Expanding teams that are will be on the ground. All that work’s been happening since June since we signed the MOU. And to suggest that no work has been happening is utterly false,” says Kahlon.
That particular camp is not subject to the court order, which references only Moccasin flats. And while the city has not specified a day when it has to be gone, it has to be done by September 9th.
