
When temperatures plummeted to −20° last year, SRD Emergency Coordinator Shaun Koopman stepped in to make arrangements for Campbell River’s homeless population to be sheltered in the city’s community centre. The SRD intervened again last week, but at their November 9 meeting the Board decided this was a Campbell River problem.
As Chief Administrative Officer David Leitch put it, “When it comes to the shelters, then the direction we have is that the Regional District is not going to do anything. I’m not saying that these groups won’t approach us and we’ll communicate with the city, but we have no authority.”
Former City Councilor and newly elected Campbell River Mayor Kermit Dahl explained, “For the last four years on council, this has been a last minute thing every year and each year the SRD comes to the city and wants to use the community center. This year, same thing. I was hoping that maybe something had happened over the last year, but clearly nothing has. We had 24 hours notice that the SRD was asking if the community center could again be used as a shelter and programming that was already prescheduled had to be canceled to make it available.”
(CORRECTION: The Coalition to End Homelessness state they used the community centre for 10 days in 2021 and 1 day this year during a provincial weather emergency – Editor.)
Related article: The Campbell River Coalition to End Homelessness Responds

The Request
The SRD vote came in response to a Campbell River Coalition to End Homelessness request ‘that the Strathcona Regional District consider becoming the operator for BC Housing contracts for temporary and extreme weather shelters in the Regional District.’
Their letter states:
“Until 2021, Campbell River non-profit organizations have provided these services. As the population of unhoused individuals and families increases, our partner organizations no longer have the physical or human resources to open these critical services on their own.”
“These programs are periodic rather than ongoing, therefore existing agencies who are currently struggling with staffing and resource issues cannot meet this surge in demand. We believe the sustainability needed to operate Extreme Weather/Temporary Shelters lies with a government body.”
“BC Housing is eager to open these shelters — almost wherever capacity and need exists. The Campbell River community has worked collaboratively in the last two years to develop and coordinate a community response that is nimble, flexible, and meets all regulatory and safety requirements.”
“We hope the Regional District will consider becoming the Operator in Campbell River as a starting point to develop systems and expertise for any community in the region that needs to open a temporary shelter. This would include budget development, signing the contract with BC Housing, recruitment, training and hiring staff, and financial administration.”

Renee LaBoucane, SRD manager of Strategic Initiatives, informed the board, “The coalition is seeking a longer term sustainable approach and has requested that the SRD manage and coordinate contracts with BC housing and work with the community to deliver services. We’ve had some initial discussions and basically want to get some direction from the board as to our next steps and if we further research the request.”
Options A & B
SRD staff presented two options to the board:
- They could give staff direction to prepare a report on the possibility of operating homeless shelters, or
- The SRD could advise the coalition that the SRD is not prepared to take on the responsibility for operating homeless shelters at this time.
Ron Kerr, a Campbell River Councilor as well as Vice Chair of the Board, said, “This whole issue has been driven by this letter and I think it’s been challenging enough for social services in Campbell River, to have outside agencies, outside governments, whether it’s provincial, federal, or federal supported agencies making decisions and doing things in Campbell River without it running through the city. I see this almost like ‘an end’ around. If an agency or something didn’t like the answer they got from the city, they go to the Regional District.”
Leitch gave an overview of how Campbell River approached the situation in 2021. The city intended to put up tents and heating shelters, but this plan did not come to fruition. One of the churches was going to provide emergency shelter, but that deal fell through. Finally, when temperatures fell to minus 20 degrees, the coalition approached SRD Protective services co-ordinator Shaun Koopman. He arranged for them to use the Campbell River Community Centre.
This scenario was repeated on the night of Tuesday, November 8, 2022.
“We don’t want to duplicate services if there’s a plan that the city has engaged, but we’ve been contacted by the coalition to look at championing this and want to see what is happening in the city, because we’re not certain about that,” said Leitch.

LaBoucane confirmed, “There’s no service provider delivering the extreme shelter at the moment. Last night was an emergency event and if we had an extreme weather shelter in place, we may have not needed to do the emergency shelter that was provided at the Community Centre.”
Regional Director Gerald Whalley asked, “Renee, you had mentioned that currently the volunteers don’t have the staff to man these sites. Where would we draw staff from if we were to participate more heavily in this?”
She replied, “The service providers do have staff. They would be pulled from a number of different organizations to provide overnight supervision at the shelter. No one organization has the staff to provide the coverage for 16 hours overnight, but to work on a community effort to pool our resources together, we think that we could provide something under that model. What we’re looking to do is find out if the board would like us to pursue this further.”
Whalley had another question, “What would be the advantage of the Regional District doing the coordination rather than say the city and the Homeless Coalition and I believe the SRD is already involved to some extent.”
Leitch pointed out that the SRD’s authority extends beyond the boundaries of Campbell River, it is a Regional entity.
“It’s a Regional service. Often there is funding opportunities that are available to the regional district that may not be available solely to the city and the regional district also is a participant in the community health service. This seems to be a service that fits underneath that umbrella. Having said that, we’re not interested in duplicating services,” he said.
A Regional Service
A couple of Directors embraced the idea of establishing a Regional Service.
Mayor Julie Colborne of Zeballos said, “ I think this is a real regional issue. Homeless people come to Campbell River. I would be in favour of option A, that staff would provide a report outlining the costs, the obligations, who the players are, who has the availability.”
Campbell River Director Doug Chapman would later remark, “I think we’re missing an opportunity here to work on something meaningful for the whole region. Director Davis said Tahsis was out of power for a week and other communities are going to be affected eventually. We need some kind of vehicle to assist each other when emergencies happen. I think we should be establishing a service now, whether it’s a regional service or sub-regional, that’s to be determined.”
Director Kevin Jules, of the Ka:’yu:’k’t’h’/Che:k’tles7et’h’ First Nations, suggested, “I feel it’d be easier to have a full report on this and to get a little more understanding.”
Questions
Mark Vonesch, Regional Director of Cortes Island, wanted to know, “ Is there revenue from the government that’s going to pay for this or is this sort of an expectation that we will cover the cost to do it?”
LaBoucane reiterated, “BC housing does have resources and will fund the operation of an extreme weather shelter from November to March.”

Director Kerr said, “I thought that the community actually was moving ahead on finding a facility and staffing it, up to the time that we were approached, but it sort of feels like there’s a bunch of parties that aren’t talking to another. So I’m certainly in favour of everybody getting together in the same room and figuring out what’s going to happen, before it really gets cold.”
Mayor Dahl added, “I’m not saying it’s Regional District’s job to do this, but the Campbell River Coalition to End Homelessness has members from the SRD and the city, and I think that it should be the Campbell River Coalition to End Homelessness applying for the funds, if the BC Housing has the funds there to provide this service.”
LaBoucane explained, “Historically, the Salvation Army at their Evergreen Facility provided beds in extreme weather. It’s my understanding, they have had a renovation and no longer have space. The coalition itself is not an entity that can get into a contract, they are a coalition and not a legal entity. That’s where the request is coming from.”
Dahl added that there were 130 homeless people using the Campbell River Community Centre.
(CORRECTION: the Coalition states there are 130 homeless people in their program, but only a fraction of them used the community centre. – Editor)
“There was never anything at Evergreen that could have been suitable for 130 people. These are the numbers that were given to us by our staff, and we’re being told that this is being done by the SRD. We’re asking who’s the insurance, who’s carrying the coverage for this? We’re not getting any answers on that. We’re told the Salvation Army and Sue Moen are going to operate it, but nobody’s carrying insurance. Who’s carrying the liability, who’s operating it? And if there’s all these funds, why aren’t we applying for them earlier than the day before. It’s gonna get cold out,” he said.


Whalley pointed out that the winters are much less severe on the West coast than east of the Rockies. If there were 130 homeless people this year, he claims the number could be 230 next year.
“That number will just continue to increase,” he said. “If we were to assume the responsibility of coordinating this, would the liability fall on us? Or if not, who is going to assume the liability?”
Thomas Yates, Senior Manager at the SRD, explained, “The Regional District has liability insurance coverage for everything it does, as long as we’re doing it legally, and it is a fairly good policy through the MIABC (Municipal Insurance Association of British Columbia). So the question is not so much whether we have liability insurance, we are protected. The question is, if we’re going to enter into partnerships, and this would all be, I think, looked at in the report, do our partners have sufficient liability coverage that we’re not absorbing additional liability?”
Leitch added, “The Regional District does not have a service, We have no connection to this. The Regional District supports a Community Health Network Coordinator, that is not a service. They participate in the Coalition to End Homelessness. We sit on boards, but we don’t provide, we don’t make requisitions, we don’t tax and we don’t have facilities.”
“So if the city is saying the Regional District is coordinating us, we’re happy to assist. We’re happy if the board wants us take on this under the Community Health Network, but this is why we come to you and say, ‘Do you want us to champion this?’ If you do, we’re happy to do that. If the city is taking care of it, we’re out.”
Campbell River Director Susan Sinnott asked, “Just for the benefit of myself and maybe the new members, can you just explain a little bit more about the community health umbrella that you’re talking about? What options are available as compared to what we have available at the city itself?”
Leitch explained, “We have a contract right now with Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA). They provide us revenue every year, in a three year term, to hire a community health coordinator to look at the determinants of health. So we have a Community Health Network that’s made up of representatives of the SRD, the city, and a number of these social groups, if you will. They also work with the Coalition To End Homelessness, which I think is a group of 17 different groups. (It’s kind of a pseudo service as it sits right now.)

He said homelessness, drug addiction and mental health issues are found throughout the Regional District.
“It’s certainly a regional issue. How can we collectively address these things and what is the proper vehicle to do that under?”
Sinnott asked, “Besides the existing facilities which are largely committed to different service organizations and various users, would there be an opportunity to acquire a facility through this community health network for these specific purposes with coordination of the city?”
Leitch replied, “Yes, I think there is. What those are, I don’t know, but absolutely there’s opportunity. That’s one of the things, if the board provides direction, that we will look for.”
Robyn Mawhinney, Regional Director for Area C, wanted to know about the extra demands of SRD staff this would entail.
“It feels like there could be another layer of negotiation and communication that needs to happen on an ongoing basis between the city of Campbell River and the Regional District.”
To which Leitch responded, “I think the simple answer is no. We are going to the city because it’s mid-November and we’re going to find a way to deal with this right now. We just don’t have any choice at this point. But I think moving forward, we do need to make a decision on what that is going to look like?”
A Campbell River Matter
Some of the Directors believed the SRD should not take the lead in this issue.
Mayor Martin Davis of Tahsis said, “ I guess I had a slightly different perspective on it. I feel like when there’s issues in Campbell River that largely Campbell River should take the lead on this. We do the same thing in Tahsis. We have availed ourselves of emergency services when we have had an emergency, like when we were without power for over a week this year. I feel like this is a conversation that should be happening between the city of Campbell River and this coalition.”
Leitch replied, “Recommendation B is that the Regional District has nothing to do with it.”
He added, “We’re happy to do it for a couple of reasons. One, as Director Davis says, it may be in the city, but it gets cold in area D, and A, and B, and C as well. So if it’s something that we’re going to contract a service out for, then when we look to BC Housing, or whoever’s going to support the finances, we’re going to look throughout the region – because it doesn’t just get cold in the city of Campbell River.”

Gerald Whalley, the Regional Director for Area A, said, “When the power is out in Sayward, like it is in Tahsis and other places, it is going to be out for a couple days. People that are without power are certainly not going to Campbell River to be put in a tent. We have other accommodations in Sayward, we open up a community center or something like that.”
“When people come from Campbell River and move to Area A, they become my constituents and that’s my responsibility. If residents from Area A move to Campbell River, they become Campbell River Constituents. That is their responsibility.”
“So primarily, I think this is a Campbell River issue and it should be resolved between Campbell River and whatever other volunteer societies they can join with. Campbell River is well able also to apply for the same grants that we are.”
Mayor Dahl agreed, “I certainly support option B. This is a Campbell River issue. Certainly if there is a need for facilities throughout the region, the SRD would be the correct organization to lead that. But in Campbell River, I think this needs to go through the city and any discussion needs to go from the coalition to the city.”
Director Sinnott added that if it becomes necessary, the city could always reconsider and come back to the SRD.
Leitch replied, “It’s mid-November and it’s cold out there. Practically speaking, we need to coordinate something together now, but we had this conversation last year and it’s going to get cold again next year. So you’re right, it doesn’t preclude us from bringing this back.”
Mayor Davis added, “Again, I just encourage the city of Campbell River to have a direct conversation with the coalition in order to get a relatively immediate action.”
The Vote

When the vote was called, 7 Directors voted against SRD staff preparing a feasibility study on taking over shelters in the Regional District. As there are only 14 Directors on the board, that was enough to defeat the motion.
The only remaining option was B, that the Campbell River & District Coalition to End Homelessness be advised that the Regional District is not prepared to take on the responsibility for operating homeless shelters at this time. This motion carried unaminously.
“We have no direction to do anything with them. So that’s fine. Just moving forward, that’s where we’re at. Right,” said Leitch. “What are we to do when these groups approach our emergency coordinator. It’s 25 degrees below, and they say, ‘People are gonna die tonight, right? They’re out in the street.’ That’s what happened last Christmas, and there was nothing set up.”
Campbell River Mayor Kermit Dahl replied, “I appreciate everything you’ve been doing, but that was last December, and now we’re in November and yesterday was minus six and we hadn’t done anything.
“Yeah, I agree,” said Leitch.
“We had 11 months to find a solution, and we didn’t do anything,” reiterated Dahl.
“Who’s we?” asked Leitch.
“The city, the SRD, Campbell Coalition to End Homelessness, none of us found a solution. There wasn’t one solution brought to City Council, and we again had less than 24 hours notice that the Community Centre would be the solution, and that programming would have to be canceled.”
This article was originally published on Nov 14. Some of the original information (such as the number of people in the emergency shelter of Nov 8, etc) proved to be questionable and new data was added on Nov 17 and 18.
Top image credit: The face of discouragement – Photo by Giovanni Randisi on Unsplash
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