Powell River residents protest encampments as motion to change bylaw is defeated - BERITAJA

A mobility to prohibit overnight sheltering successful definite Powell River, B.C., parks and nationalist spaces and let it successful others was defeated connected Tuesday night.

“Since we had a shelter that closed successful May of past year, 2025, the number of bum group sheltering successful parks has increased, mostly successful forested areas,” acting Mayor George Doubt told BERITAJA.

“We person a caller building called the Driftwood Shelter that houses 40, but it’s not large capable to location everybody that’s surviving unsmooth correct now.”

LIFT ran the shelter that closed successful May 2025, but they mislaid the lease connected their spot and had to adjacent down, Doubt explained.

“So from May 2025 until they opened the Driftwood Shelter, location was really nary shelter successful Powell River.”

The Driftwood Shelter opened successful precocious April this year.

Pat Martin organized a gathering of residents up of the assembly gathering truthful group could person their say.

“I want to person a safe organization and we do not person a safe organization anymore. We utilized to person a safe community. I was calved and raised present successful Powell River. I went away, I did a batch of activity successful third-world countries. I’ve travel back, I’ve made this my location and I person a batch of compassion for people, but what’s happening is not working,” she said.

Martin said the metropolis assembly needs to put much thought into the scheme for the unhoused successful the community.

Mark Scott pinch the Westview Ratepayers Association, which advocates for section residents, said astatine the rally connected Tuesday.

“We judge location is simply a amended way,” he said.

“And the amended measurement is proceeding from you and moving together connected solutions. We don’t person each the answers, but we’re very assured that we’ve sewage a amended measurement that’ll move america guardant pinch your sound — not successful isolation, not 7 guys connected assembly making a decision, but each of our community.”

Scott said they sent a letter to the acting politician and assembly a fewer weeks agone outlining what he said is simply a scheme to reside homelessness successful the community.

Resident Nichole Strickland said astatine the assembly meeting, saying she, for illustration galore residents, feels disappointment that their voices are not being heard.

“This is not about deficiency of compassion; I deliberation each personification deserves dignity, support and a organization to rebuild their life, but compassion besides intends creating solutions that really thief people, not simply relocating a analyzable rumor into 1 of our metropolis parks,” she said.

An unhoused person, identified only arsenic Robert, said astatine the meeting, saying group are not looking for a handout, but a manus up.

“A batch of america effort to conscionable make it done the time and do the champion we could and effort to unrecorded a amended life,” he said.

“We struggle, we person our issues, we understand that, but we don’t want to harm people, we don’t want to wounded children, thing for illustration that.”

Ultimately, nary 1 was successful favour of changing the bylaw, pinch Doubt saying he thinks they request to region and rethink really they move guardant pinch this plan.

He said everyone successful the community, including those surviving successful the forested areas and parks, should beryllium progressive successful formulating a plan.

Coun. Jim Palm said this is not an easy taxable to talk about.

“It conscionable puts you successful different abstraction arsenic to what’s going connected retired location because I walked the encampments this greeting and saw first manus — actually, that’s the first clip I’ve done it; I should person been location erstwhile — but what I saw was surely not healthy,” he said.

Palm said that what he saw was unsanitary and that he did not consciousness safe stepping the trails.

“There are two-storey structures pinch windows; it’s conscionable mind-boggling what’s retired there,” he added.

Coun. Trina Isakson agreed that the rumor is simply a analyzable one.

“There’s concerns about supporting the dignity of group surviving successful encampments,” she said.