Surrey cleaned up its 'Strip' — and former mayor has some advice for Maple Ridge about homeless camps

Former Surrey mayor Linda Hepner is no stranger to dealing with homeless camps.

Last June, the municipality cleared the tent city on the 'Surrey Strip', which ran along Surrey's 135A Street, and moved more than 100 people into modular housing and shelters.

She's been watching the debate around homelessness in Maple Ridge intently.

"It certainly sounds familiar to me," Hepner told CBC's The Early Edition. "But we approached it in an altogether different fashion."

Earlier this week, the mayor of Maple Ridge, Mike Morden, complained homeless people are "basically raping and pillaging" the community and cited several unsubstantiated claims about homelessness in the area.

He has been vocal in his criticism of the province's plan to create temporary modular housing.

Advice for Maple Ridge

"You're going to have to bite the bullet," Hepner advised Maple Ridge.

"Sit down with the province and work with the business community but make sure they understand that, at some point, a plan has to be in place that will actually change the situation."

Her city's plans to clean up the Strip took over a year of planning.

"We didn't say, 'how are we going to solve this problem?'" Hepner said. "We said ,'what is it going to take to make the people that are in these tent cities able to move on with their lives?'"

That involved finding housing for all those in the camp, figuring out what their individual needs were — whether that meant finding a place that was pet-friendly or that had addiction services nearby — and working with the community ahead of the relocation.

"You can't do it without partners," she said. "You definitely need the province and B.C. Housing to be at the table but you also need the health agencies because you can't move people without services."

Hepner said she understands the concerns around modular housing because she, too, had to face it while in power.

"As much as Maple Ridge is currently experiencing pushback, there was a lot of pushback in Surrey as well," she said.

"You have to listen to all those voices but … you have to be diligent in ensuring that the only way forward is helping people out of that vulnerable situation and getting them off the street."