The B.C. government and the City of Victoria have unveiled a key step in efforts to address street homelessness in the city.
Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon announced the creation of 72 new shelter spaces in the city at existing facilities, 20 of which will come online this week.
“This was not easy but we have found opportunities to expand existing sites, to renovate, to fix up, so that we can get people indoors,” Kahlon said.
The remaining 52 spaces will be ready in the “weeks ahead.”
The new shelter spaces flow from a memorandum of understanding with the City of Victoria, and following weekly meetings between the city, non-profits and several government ministries.
It also comes amid efforts to break up an entrenched homeless camp in the 900-block of Pandora Avenue that has raised safety concerns so severe that first responders will no longer attend calls in the area without a police escort.
Earlier this month the city and Victoria police announced a plan to address the encampment through increased police and bylaw patrols and with the ultimate aim of removing it.
That plan, however, relies on the availability of housing or shelter spaces.
Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto praised the province Wednesday for its long-term efforts to build new housing, but said that work is slow and the city requires “an immediate response to an urgent need.”
She also called out other municipalities in the capital region, who she said are not pulling their weight when it comes to housing the homeless.
“These people are here because no one else is stepping up to provide the same services and space,” Alto said.
“This is essentially not fair — it is not fair to the city of Victoria, it is not fair to the province, it is not fair to the people seeking help.”
Work on the new shelter spaces comes as the union representing Victoria bus drivers raises concerns about a trio of bus stops near the intersection of Pandora Avenue and Quadra Street.
Stephen Bains, president of Unifor Local 333, said drivers want to see the benches and bus shelters removed from the stops, which they say are frequently used as places for people to do drugs or to fight.
Bus operators also dislike driving through the area due to safety risks from tents spilling into the road and people stepping out into traffic.
Some have also been threatened, he said.
“Fortunately there has been no physical violence yet, no operator has been assaulted. However it is quite common to have operators essentially be verbally abused by individuals at the stop,” Bains said.
In one case, someone “held up a lighter in their hand in such a way that they were pretending they had a gun,” he added.
“So weird situations have occurred at this bus stop.”
While BC Transit has declined to make changes to the stops, Bains said it has agreed to conduct a safety audit instead.