BC Housing's lease for Mission Flats Manor expired in November 2023, but staff wouldn't give details to Kamloops City Council on their plans.

(KAREN EDWARDS / iNFOnews.ca)

Kamloops city council wants more transparency from BC Housing after getting vague answers, if any at all, from a delegation at an open council meeting this week.

Staff from the Crown agency were in council chambers on Jan. 23 to brief local officials on its plans for Kamloops.

Councillors asked the delegation for updates and information on a number of live local issues, but got little to no response, leaving the visibly frustrated.

"I'm concerned I'm not hearing a commitment to a long-term strategy here," Coun. Katie Neustaeter said. 

READ MORE: BC Housing has 83 housing units to show for $30M in Kamloops real estate in 2 years

She pressed for the staffers to consider a more permanent emergency shelter on City land instead of the temporary facilities that open each winter.

"You're certainly hearing a commitment to work toward long-term permanent shelter. We're on the same page on that," Tyler Baker of BC Housing said.

They got no clarity on what's been called the Columbia Precinct land either. The land is at the corner of 6 Avenue and Columbia Street, which includes properties used by multiple ministries, including one BC Housing site poised for redevelopment.

The province announced the Glenfair housing property was going to be redeveloped in 2021, but no official plans have been released yet.

Coun. Bill Sarai pressed for more action on the area, beyond just the Glenfair property, telling BC Housing the City would help the Crown agency along to bring more housing to the properties that neighbour the courthouse and Royal Inland Hospital.

"We have identified that to the minister of housing," he said. "We would stand behind any development there — all types of housing."

He added that Minister Ravi Kahlon "appointed" staff to look at redeveloping the area, but Baker offered few answers.

READ MORE: BC slaps Kamloops with new housing target that doesn't add up

"We have a number of initiatives happening in the Columbia Precinct," he said, only specifying the Glenfair property.

Coun. Dale Bass asked about BC Housing's plans for Mission Flats Manor, where ASK Wellness has been running a temporary supportive housing site since 2018.

"We expect plans to be coming forward soon," Baker said.

The lease expired in November, with no more opportunities to renew it. ASK Wellness continues to operate the space unchanged as the non-profit waits for future plans to come forward.

READ MORE: Burst pipe floods vacant BC Housing apartment building in Kamloops

"I felt a lack of connectivity from BC Housing's answers," Bass said after BC Housing staff left. "I felt, particularly in answering councillor Neustaeter, there wasn't an answer."

Council resolved to ask both BC Housing and the housing ministry for another meeting, which will likely be behind closed doors, in order to get more details on future plans for Kamloops.

Baker and fellow BC Housing staffer Nanette Drobot briefed council on the Crown agency's operations in Kamloops for the past few years, which includes 673 open housing units from 2017 to June 2023. There are 308 more that haven't yet been opened, according to their presentation.

Last year, BC Housing spent $74 million in Kamloops, which is 200 per cent more than the year before. Of that total, $42 million was spent on social housing, $20.5 million was on "addressing homelessness" and $6.4 million on supportive housing.

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