B.C.’s minister responsible for housing suggested today that downtown community safety woes cannot be fixed by doing away with plans for more supportive housing.
This comes after Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim spoke about his plan to put a pause on “net new” supportive housing units until more units are built in neighbouring municipalities last week.
“My big issue with it was to suggest that when you provide housing for people, it makes the community less safe,” Ravi Kahlon said, also suggesting there are fewer bylaw calls, corrections and hospital stays in Vancouver when there is more housing to people who might otherwise be in encampments or sleeping rough.
However, Kahlon also said he’s sympathetic to the idea that it can be challenging when everyone experiencing homelessness is moved to one part of town, citing Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto’s concern that neighbouring communities need to work together to provide services across the region.
“I have confidence that they will be able to, but there are going to be some tough conversations on how to do that,” he said.
Kahlon was on CFAX 1070 with Al Ferraby this morning (Jan. 27):