Kelowna mayor Tom Dyas is one of several BC local elected officials leading the charge, calling on the province to reform bail for repeat offenders and build mandatory care for the province’s most severely addicted, mentally ill and brain injured citizens.
Last week, mayors and councillors mounted an unprecedented, and so far effective, pressure campaign, urging the provincial government to help them tackle the root sources of the prolific crime and rampant public health disorder plaguing downtown communities across BC. Nearly 200 mayors and councillors were gathered in Victoria last week for the annual Union of BC Municipalities conference, and for many, restoring public safety and building addiction and mental health treatment in their communities are top priorities.
Like nearly every other community in BC (Canada and North America), Kelowna is battling the effects of a small group of people committing a disproportionate amount of the crime. Dyas wants the province to hire more Crown prosecutors and push the federal government for tougher consequences on repeat property crime, so offenders aren’t just cycled back onto the streets after arrest. And he wants those who need treatment for the safety of others to get the healthcare they need.
Provincial gaps are expensive
Kelowna has done its part, he said, having spent $20 million over three years paying for services that actually fall under provincial and federal jurisdiction. The city has invested in housing, healthcare, and extra bylaw and enforcement to deal with mental health, addictions, homelessness and crime.
Working with BC Housing and Interior Health, the city has helped lift many people from life on the street, to achieve a better circumstance. He points to the municipal-provincial partnership in the Heart and Hearth program and the establishment of nearly 200 tiny homes as a success.
But he says there are a group of people causing an inordinate amount of destruction and stress for his community who are beyond the city’s ability to help. For those who are too incapacitated by their addictions, brain injury and mental health challenges, the province must step in, he says.
‘We have to find alternatives’
“We have to find alternatives for individuals to find a better path forward.”
Leaving people languishing in our streets, causing danger and havoc for the public, business owners and first responders, is not acceptable and it is not compassion, says Dyas.
He, along with his Okanagan mayoral colleagues, wants to see the province develop involuntary care in the currently under-utilized Oliver Correctional Centre, so people in the Okanagan can get help in their own region.
The mayor stopped by the recording studio in the legislative press gallery to share Kelowna’s story and what he wants the provincial government to do about it.
This is part of an ongoing Northern Beat discussion series with B.C mayors.
Note: Two days after Dyas and about 50 other mayors stood on the legislative steps and issued an urgent call for action on bail reform and mandatory care, Premier David Eby announced his government would build out 100 new secured involuntary care beds in Prince George and Surrey.
Podcast producer: Rob Shaw