It's time for B.C. to use emergency powers to secure hotel rooms for homeless, Victoria mayor says

The mayor of Victoria says it's time for the province to step in and help people living without adequate shelter during the COVID-19 health crisis.

City council is voting on a motion Thursday to ask the provincial government to use its emergency powers to procure hotel rooms so people currently living in the streets and in parks can maintain physicaldistancing.

"The people who are living in those places are going to be competing for the same acute care beds as the general population," said Mayor Lisa Helps, adding it is in everyone's best interest for the government to take action.

The city has set up a site in Topaz Park with more than 100 tents erected at a safe distance from one another in an effort to help stop the spread of the virus among the homeless.

Helps said the city has also secured 35 hotel rooms for those without shelterand that B.C. Housing has been trying to negotiate with hotel and motel owners for additional spaces.

But Helps said it's not enough and because the province has the power under current emergency orders to requisition buildings, they should do so now to house the homeless.

She praised the B.C. government for its "tremendous leadership" atflattening the curve of the coronavirus and said now is the time to show leadership on this front.

"We could also be a leader in Canada at taking a comprehensive approach to unsheltered populations, not only in Victoria, but across the province," said Helps.

Many municipalities across B.C. are struggling with how to help the homeless, many of whom are struggling with mental health and addiction issues and have underlying health concerns.

In a release April 7, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing said it had secured 900 spaces at 23 sites including hotels, motels and community centres throughout B.C. for people in need to shelter in place indoors.

B.C. is currently facingtwo public health emergencies: one related to the rapid spread of COVID-19, the other the ongoing opioid overdose crisis declared inApril2016.

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