Victoria homeless camp: Critics say plan for new shelter falls short
Offer of shelter space unlikely to move Victoria homeless campers indoors
Critics say the province's plan to open another shelter in Victoria is unlikely to disband a growing homeless camp at the courthouse.
There are now about 55 tents crowded onto the lawn of the law courts in the city's downtown.
The province hopes adding a new around-the-clock shelter in Victoria — which will also offer meals and health services — will be enough incentive to move most of the campers indoors.
But Joseph Reville said he won't leave his tent for a shelter bed because he doesn't think it will bring him any closer to finding a permanent place to live.
"I'm not too excited about the shelter idea," he said. "I'd like to see that money go towards getting some of the homeless off the street. There are a lot of us who do actually want to get housing."
Fellow camper Sherman Sherwood said he doesn't plan to move to the new shelter either.
Sherwood said he has tried accessing shelters over a decade of living on the street, but he prefers camping because it allows him to keep a close eye on his bike and trailer that hold all his belongings.
"Quite frankly we have shelters. It's not going to solve anything by forcing people to move into shelters," he said.
The coordinator for the extreme weather shelter program in Greater Victoria also said adding more shelter space is not the right approach.
People need somewhere to go after they have come to a shelter for help, Jen Wilde said.
"If there's going to be any energy and resources put into anything in the immediate future, it should be put into that next level support, transitional housing."
NDP housing critic David Eby is calling in the province to come up with a more comprehensive strategy to battle homelessness in communities around the province.
"Obviously, the immediate response is emergency shelters, but after that, what? Where are people going to go? Are they just going to stay in the shelters forever?" Eby said.
The B.C. minister responsible for housing, Rich Coleman, said staff are working with the City of Victoria to find a location to open the new homeless shelter, which is expected to have space for about 40 people.