Saanich mayor moves that the former Emily Carr Library be turned into modular housing until more permanent housing can be created.
Saanich council held a special meeting to hear from residents about the encampment. Speaking on CFAX with Mark Brennae, mayor Richard Atwell mentioned one idea is to use the property housing the former library at 3,500 Blanshard Street for modular housing for the homeless.
“This should be included in this list of properties that we have that would be suitable to build something very quickly, you know by Christmas or shortly after,” Atwell said. “To satisfy the short term need for housing to help reduce the population of the park while the more permanent supportive housing is being built that is coming but it’s going to take 24 months for that supportive housing to be built once the shovel hits the ground, and the shovel hasn’t hit the ground yet.”
Atwell said he did not get enough votes to have the motion pass at the special council meeting, but since three councillors were absent he has hope it will pass at a later date.
Tent city resident, Ryan Williams said he acts as security through the encampment and through tears says crime isn't tolerated from the residents.
“Your kids are safe. If there’s somebody crawling over your fence, come talk to us. It will be stopped right away,” Williams said. “I’ve been homeless off and on for 10 years and sure I have my issues, but there’s nothing we can do when there’s no rentals and there's no housing.”
One resident who lives on Culduthel Road said he doesn't feel safe taking his two-year old daughter to the area.
“I wonder about our safety, I have a two year old daughter, we used to go to that park,” the resident said. “I don’t care what anybody says, I don’t feel safe taking her there to play. Going down the path there’s encampments, there’s garbage, there’s wrappers. I mean, yes that area was already a little bit polluted but it is unsightly.”
Atwell said government needs to do more to provide supportive housing for people in need.
“Our community is in crisis, and I’m not just referring to Regina Park but to the crisis of homelessness in our community at large,” Atwell said. “Ask anyone who is homeless and in need about the day to day struggles they face simply to exist, including finding a place to sleep and what you will hear is a sobering account of survival within the urban setting.
“Ask yourself, what would you do tonight if you could not return home for tonight, or had no bed to sleep in? Where would you go? The fact is we take for granted these basic necessities of life and I have long believed that society is judged by how they care for those less advantaged.”
The over two-and-a-half hour long meeting had 32 residents speak, with a time limit of three minutes each.
-With files from Mark Brennae and James Gardner