The Mayor of Quesnel says it is absolutely not true that busloads of homeless people are being transferred into the community from the Lower Mainland or elsewhere.
Bob Simpson says they asked that question during a meeting this past Friday with several service providing agencies…
“We had the RCMP, we had bylaw, we had Ministry of Social Development, Ministry of Children and Families, Northern Health, those who are providing food resources, the homeless shelter, and we asked that question to them specifically and the short answer is it is not true.”
Simpson says Quesnel, like every community, has seen a rise in people who are living on the margin…
“We’re also seeing a rise in people with mental health and addictions who end up on the street, and there is a transient population of homeless individuals with either mental health issues and/or addiction issues, that are moving around the province. What happens is, because of the mental health issue or because they’re using methamphetymene or something, they get cut off from the services in the community that is traditionally their home base, and they start moving from community to community.”
But Simpson says the bottom line is the trend is up everywhere and Quesnel is not a dumping ground or a target for people to be bused to from any other community.