If the minister responsible for housing, Rich Coleman, is going to claim homelessness is dropping across British Columbia, he should provide some evidence, says NDP housing critic Shane Simpson.
"Homeless numbers have gone down across the province," the Globe and Mail quoted Coleman saying in an Oct. 12 article. "Things are really improving, dramatically as far as I'm concerned . . . You can't find another jurisdiction in North America where homeless numbers are down."
But when asked what evidence there is that homelessness is dropping across the province, a ministry spokesperson said, "The minister is referring to the 2011 Metro Vancouver Homeless Count -- which indicated that the number of street homeless in the City of Vancouver has declined by 82 [percent] since the last count in 2008 -- to 145 street homeless from 815."
The spokesperson did not respond to two follow up emails asking about how, or whether, the province assesses homelessness levels outside the Lower Mainland.
"The count in the rest of the province is the minister taking a Vancouver number and trying to extrapolate that across the province without having much to back it up," said the NDP's Simpson, the MLA for Vancouver-Hastings.
"I think it's a bit premature for the minister to say we've solved the problem, which is largely what he's trying to claim," he said. "If they're going to make these claims . . . he should base this on some kind of evidence."
Even the Vancouver count showed the province has a long way to go, Simpson said. While the number of people living on the street was down, largely thanks to temporary shelters, the overall number of homeless people had dropped little, he said.
And the province will be funding fewer shelters in Vancouver this winter, cutting the funding for four that provided beds for 160 people last year.
Outside the Lower Mainland and Victoria there appears to be "very minimal" attempts to learn how many people are homeless, Simpson said.
"My expectation is we have very little other than what's anecdotal for people working in those communities," he said. "If they're going to claim success against measurement, they probably should invest something in doing that."
Andrew MacLeod is The Tyee’s Legislative Bureau Chief in Victoria. Reach him here.
11
Login or register to post comments
the real ODB
19 weeks ago
what a crock!
If homelessness has dropped in Vancouver, it's because: they've moved back home (other province) because no one in BC has "spare change", or they've died! Coleman has got to be one of the most pathetic bagmen (yes sir, no sir, 3 bags full sir!) this province has ever been cursed with. Who keeps voting for this guy?
DPL
19 weeks ago
Does anyone actually believe
Does anyone actually believe anything Coleman says? The guy is full of BS
lemurr
18 weeks ago
Rich Coleman
the minister was quite clear as to his reason for thinking that, he said as far as I'm concerned.
realisticman
18 weeks ago
Government investment - Less Homeless.
Karen O'Shaughnessy has been helping people for 40 years. She completely agrees with the statements made by Minister Rich Coleman. And she said so on various radio stations this week and last week.
Shane Simpson is absolutely wrong and once again playing with words for political gain.
NEWS 1130
Tamara Slobogean Oct 07, 2011 11:55:08 AM
"Karen O'Shaughnessy says every year, Lookout helps more people who can't make ends meet. "Over 30 per cent of the people that came into our shelters last year were the working poor. That's a new phenomenon, and a very scary one."
She tells us these are people who face very tough choices. "'Do I pay my medical for my family or do I eat? Does my family eat or do I pay rent? What do I do?'"
Despite the challenges, she sees progress; she credits government investment and a more compassionate society with actually reducing the number of people forced to live on the street. "
morechatter
18 weeks ago
Shane speaks the truth
I don't know what your talking about unreal man but there are no homes for the homeless to move to as the numbers continue to climb.
$250,000 for shelters for the winter works out to a hundred thousand heads as government denies the problem even exists bym refusing to keep track of the serious problems low income are faced with each day in BC. It is easier to end up on the streets than most think as 25% of the population is living on the edge.
Did you know there are people fighting to stay in the shelters for additional month to be saved from being put back onto the streets because there are no places to rent in their price range.
Many are not even capable of looking for a place but are still put back on the streets to hopeful find another shelter that isn't full. And the problems in the shelters leave many of its homeless residents feeling like they are a piece of dirt.
morechatter
18 weeks ago
$2500
Is what it costs to stay at the shelters for a homeless person for the month. Places for rent for $400 or $600 are rare and are not livable for the most part as the those who do find a place in this price range usually end up right back on the streets in a couple months.
The homeless numbers are in the hundreds and thousands as those on assistance and the working poor fight for their right to live without loosing their dignity and self-worth.
Andrew MacLeod
18 weeks ago
Realistic
Minister Coleman very clearly said there has been a drop in homelessness across the province, not just in Vancouver.
While there is wide agreement there's been some improvement in the city, based on the last homeless count (mentioned in the article), that tells us nothing about what is happening in Victoria, Nanaimo, Kelowna, Prince George, Kamloops or anywhere else outside the Lower Mainland.
Karen O'Shaughnessy, quoted in the above comment, has a valuable shelter-level perspective, but one also limited by geography. She works with the Lookout Society, which has shelter locations in Vancouver, Burnaby and New Westminster, all of which are of course in the Lower Mainland: http://lookoutsociety.ca/Locations.html
If Coleman and his ministry have evidence that homelessness is dropping outside the Lower Mainland as well as in Vancouver, I look forward to seeing it. But so far they've failed to produce it.
realisticman
18 weeks ago
Contact BC Housing then and find out
Lookout also have a new facility on the North Shore.
"As part of the Provincial Homelessness Initiative and partnerships with local governments, BC Housing
completed 541 housing units for the homeless in 2010/11. These agreements with eight municipalities across
the province – Vancouver, Victoria, Surrey, Kelowna, Abbotsford, Campbell River, Maple Ridge and Nanaimo
– will see the development of over 2,300 new supportive housing units.
2010/11 was another year of growth and change for BC Housing. Federal and provincial capital grant initiatives allowed for the
construction of new housing with supports for those in greatest need, as well as the renovation and modernization of aging
social housing stock. The total number of households served through government assisted housing increased to over 95,000
through a range of programs for priority groups.
PROGRAM EXPENDITURES
The chart on page 50 shows BC Housing’s expenditures over the past ten years. Total expenditures have almost tripled over this period. Both housing subsidies and rental assistance have almost quadrupled, rising from $140 million and $20 million respectively in 2001/02 to $552 million and $77 million in 2010/11. During this period, BC Housing added approximately 41,500 new households benefitting from government-assisted housing and provided an increased level of support services to those most in need."
BC Housing Annual Report 2010/2011
morechatter
18 weeks ago
I wouldn't trust those figures
With a ten year waiting period for social housing it isn't sounding that good and the added need for shelters to fill gaping holes in an none existent safety net. If government was serious about the housing problem it would keep an active count instead of a one time count as the homeless have no fixed address.
Hardly meaningful or scientific when the poor in this province continue to climb along with the cost of living. Cut backs in subsidies for rental units are more the norm as housing agencies go for market rent.
It wouldn't be the first time BC Liberals tried to pull a fast one and tell it like it isn't, Liberals had no promblen sticking the poor with the HST. The last thing the BC Liberals want to do is help out the poorest in the land, the numbers prove it.
morechatter
18 weeks ago
Low income are dying to get into safe housing
http://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/gary_mason/wanted-a-government-with-the-will-to-tackle-child-poverty/article1887244/?service=mobile
How does BC Housing keep track of housing needs?
6 month waiting lists with applications that must be put in every six months even if it takes up to 10 years before finding housing. Many in need of housing think they are on the list to find out they have been taken off a few years later.
Perry
18 weeks ago
A modest proposal to end homelessness in Canada
Homelessness can be ended in just a year or two. Here's my modest proposal:
http://chainthedogma.blogspot.com/2011/10/modest-proposal-to-end-homelessness-in.html