Union of B.C. Municipalities asks provincial government to pull homeless bill

The Union of B.C. Municipalities is requesting that legislation around Bill 45 be withdrawn as legal counsel advised them that it actually limits the ability of local governments to manage homeless encampments.

Bill 45 was introduced by the provincial government last week and if passed into law will apply to local governments seeking court injunctions to remove or regulate homeless encampments.

Governments will have to provide evidence that there is “reasonably available shelter space” if they want to seek an injunction to remove an encampment.

Trish Mandewo, president of the UBCM, told Global News that the bill appears to have been rushed and brought forward without proper consultation or due diligence.

“There currently isn’t a community in B.C. that has the necessary shelter space related to ease homeless populations,” she said. “So practically speaking, it will become very very difficult for municipalities to get an injunction.”

She said the logical outcome is that communities will see more encampments in communities.

“The one thing we all agree on, though, is that the policy objective for our unhoused neighbours should be homes.”

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Minister of Housing Ravi Kahlon said Thursday that there isn’t any current plan to change or rescind Bill 45.

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“I think what’s important to know here, we fully agree that encampments are not safe, either for the people who are living in them or the community at large,” he said.

“That’s why we’ve been working so hard to get shelter spaces open, to get people out of encampments, into shelter and then into long-term housing.”

Kahlon said the provincial government has met with local governments and the UBCM many times and they will continue to do so moving forward.

“If local governments want to have shelter space, they should approve locations and we will fund them,” he said.

“The biggest challenge for us right now for shelter spaces is not that we don’t have money, it’s that we have local governments who are having a really tough time in their communities agreeing on a location. And so if they can agree on a location, we have money for shelter spaces.”

Premier David Eby conceded on Thursday that the UBCM’s concerns were legitimate.

He said although the province will ultimately pass the legislation, it won’t put it into effect until the worries are addressed.

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Mandewo said their legal team has advised them that the bigger implications of this legislation will limit local governments to seeking a court order to dismantle an encampment.

“Municipalities are providing options for designating places for overnight sheltering but encampments are a different thing altogether,” she added.

“They are unsafe for their residents and for surrounding businesses and for neighbours, so municipalities need to factor in public safety in their policies and this legislation is not going to help us do that, so that’s why we are calling for the provincial government to withdraw this bill at this time until proper engagement and consultation is done.”

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