The first day of the UBCM convention in Victoria saw B.C.’s Housing Minister address the homelessness issue.
Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps says she was compelled by Rich Coleman's comments on what the government is doing and how it dealt with the tent city issue in Victoria.
“Most of his remarks wanted to remind people in the audience that people that homeless are people and they need our help and our care and many of them are vulnerable.”
Earlier this month, the province committed $500 million dollars for affordable housing projects.
Helps says there were a number of elected officials dealing with tent cities in their towns.
“Really it was striking; one mayor said there were eleven tent cities in her small town so really it’s an issue.”
Victoria’s mayor was a guest on the panel for the session that focused largely on Victoria’s “Tent City.”
“I think people were really curious about what the lessons learnt were and what to do if a tent city springs up in their town.
Helps says Coleman spoke of drug addiction and how Fentanyl has really changed the game in terms of the help people need on the streets.
The week long convention continues on Tuesday with talks on drug related overdoses, and ride sharing options like Uber.