The state of the homeless in Prince Rupert has gained a bit of a foothold this week in the consciousness of the community, with an article in the Daily News on the issue and a follow up letter to the editor from street worker Myles Moreau, who outlined some of the struggles of the street.
But, for all that talk there are just as many questions to be found and one of the key ones this week may be if the City of Prince Rupert dropped the ball when the mayor and council members attended the UBCM in Penticton.
The convention featured a number of opportunities for participants to meet and share information on issues of mutual concern and seek out assistance on them.
One of the key concerns seems to be of the City having missed out on an opportunity to join other communities around the province to sign on to the goal of supporting an affordable housing and homeless strategy, apparentlyby not taking part in a UBCM survey on homeless.
Noticeably absent from the list of participating communities in the survey is Prince Rupert, a development that local advocates for the homeless are puzzled over.
The Daily News featured some of the concern over the missing in action status of the city on that important issue, a concern that the city had not apparently responded to the paper about by the time they went to press with their story on Thursday.
It brings up an interesting thought about those UBCM conventions that council attends each year, rarely it seems to we ever get a comprehensive report on our participation at, or the results of our attendance at them.
Considering it’s championed as an important part of our municipal government’s interaction with the province and other communities, it might be helpful if the community was able to better understand what is achieved each year.
A report to council at the first meeting after UBCM detailing our participant’s agendas and the feedback and conclusions they had of them, might give us a better idea as to how the UBCM is important to the process and what it is that we do there each fall.
If nothing else, perhaps posting our participants observations from UBCM on the city website might at least provide the citizens of the city with some background on the five days of political socializing.
And in this case it would certainly have provided a review of what we thought was important and what we decided to take a pass on.
If the reviews from this past session are to be read properly, it would seem that we took a pass on the homeless and affordable housing issue.
It’s a position that might be of interest in the current election campaign and one which the candidates both incumbents and hopefuls, may wish to address.
The Daily News provided some background on the UBCM survey and our apparent lack of participation in it as part of the Thursday paper.
City attacked for apparent lack of homelessness action
Critics wonder why city has not signed up for UBCM policy
By George T. Baker
The Daily News
Thursday, October 23, 2008
But, for all that talk there are just as many questions to be found and one of the key ones this week may be if the City of Prince Rupert dropped the ball when the mayor and council members attended the UBCM in Penticton.
The convention featured a number of opportunities for participants to meet and share information on issues of mutual concern and seek out assistance on them.
One of the key concerns seems to be of the City having missed out on an opportunity to join other communities around the province to sign on to the goal of supporting an affordable housing and homeless strategy, apparentlyby not taking part in a UBCM survey on homeless.
Noticeably absent from the list of participating communities in the survey is Prince Rupert, a development that local advocates for the homeless are puzzled over.
The Daily News featured some of the concern over the missing in action status of the city on that important issue, a concern that the city had not apparently responded to the paper about by the time they went to press with their story on Thursday.
It brings up an interesting thought about those UBCM conventions that council attends each year, rarely it seems to we ever get a comprehensive report on our participation at, or the results of our attendance at them.
Considering it’s championed as an important part of our municipal government’s interaction with the province and other communities, it might be helpful if the community was able to better understand what is achieved each year.
A report to council at the first meeting after UBCM detailing our participant’s agendas and the feedback and conclusions they had of them, might give us a better idea as to how the UBCM is important to the process and what it is that we do there each fall.
If nothing else, perhaps posting our participants observations from UBCM on the city website might at least provide the citizens of the city with some background on the five days of political socializing.
And in this case it would certainly have provided a review of what we thought was important and what we decided to take a pass on.
If the reviews from this past session are to be read properly, it would seem that we took a pass on the homeless and affordable housing issue.
It’s a position that might be of interest in the current election campaign and one which the candidates both incumbents and hopefuls, may wish to address.
The Daily News provided some background on the UBCM survey and our apparent lack of participation in it as part of the Thursday paper.
City attacked for apparent lack of homelessness action
Critics wonder why city has not signed up for UBCM policy
By George T. Baker
The Daily News
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Page three
Last week, the city of Prince Rupert took the time to reflect on housing issues during Homeless Awareness Week. This week, it is being asked to explain why the city didn't sign the Union of British Columbia Municipalities policy paper on affordable housing and homelessness strategy.
Last week, the city of Prince Rupert took the time to reflect on housing issues during Homeless Awareness Week. This week, it is being asked to explain why the city didn't sign the Union of British Columbia Municipalities policy paper on affordable housing and homelessness strategy.
The 2008 UBCM convention in Penticton was an opportunity for all municipalities around the province to sign on supporting the affordable housing and homelessness strategy.
And while it appears that the city is not completely dormant on the issue, it has not explained why city representatives did not respond to a UBCM survey on homelessness.
Municipalities including the village of Lumby, 100 Mile House and Burns Lake signed on along with heavyweights including Vancouver, Victoria and Burnaby. Noticeably absent was Prince Rupert, along with other North Coast communities.
“I was pleased to see the recommendation come forward at the UBCM. Noticeably absent was Prince Rupert, which is noticeably disturbing,” said North Coast MLA Gary Coons.
The recommendations from the policy paper were that the federal and provincial government take on measure to deal with homelessness around the province.
The paper recommended that the federal government implement a national housing strategy in consultation with provincial and local government and provide long-term sustainable funding, commitment to affordable housing.
It also recommended that the provincial government develop and implement a provincial affordable housing and homeless plan in cooperation with local government that is comprehensive, outlining the roles and responsibilities of each provincial ministry in taking on the issue.
Coons was at the UBCM meeting as were many MLA’s from around the province dealing with several municipal issues. Coons said he could not believe that the city would not have taken part in the survey.
He said that the Prince Rupert economic boom and the job projections were a bit over the top and premature.
”As a region, we were a bit too optimistic,” said Coons.
The city itself has yet to comment after several calls to the mayor’s office.
But Christine White of Transition House for Ladies did say that the city is working with community members to get a solution for homeless people in the city, even if they did not participate in the survey.
“We have a local pack committee, which is a homeless action committee, (with) five agencies in the community involved with that including ourselves, Friendship House, the Salvation Army, Community Enrichment Society and Fairview Management,” said White.
She added that they are currently working on a city protocol for Prince Rupert that they are going to be presenting soon, though no official date could be announced.
“We have funding through BC Housing for our homeless outreach program and that is to help anyone who is in need or is danger of homelessness to find affordable housing and give then the support they need,” said White.
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