As part of the Kamloops Solutions Project, community leaders discuss issues around homelessness at a business leaders roundtable in Kamloops on August 1, 2023.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Arjun Singh

Kamloops continues to be impacted by the negative effects of the homelessness and toxic drug crisis with frustration rife among community members who differ in attitudes toward the unhoused population and how to address the situation.

“The conflict is polarized, but I would say the conversations I’ve had have indicated a lot of alignment, there are just some very loud voices on social media,” former city councillor and property manager at Sabar Investments Arjun Singh said.

Using provincial grants, Singh has spent the past year hosting roundtable discussions with a diverse range of community leaders in the health and social service industry, business owners, frontline workers and neighbourhood association leaders to find areas of agreement and contention, and come up ideas to lessen the negative impacts of the crisis on the community.

“Where we want to get is a proactive place, not a reactive place, and make sure we’re planning ahead,” Singh said. “There are things the community can agree on, there is a potential to work together, a wide variety of people can side on common things.

“When I was a city councillor there were so many people approaching me with concerns around social issues and safety. We launched a project last year to talk about all the problems."

The focus of the Kamloops Solutions Project is on the immediate crisis of homelessness and helping the homeless find housing and services.

“We talk about peoples’ understanding of how people become homeless and how they get addicted to substances,” Singh said. “We’re leading with an empathetic approach, every other approach seems to be failing.”

He recently compiled the 2023 project findings in a working paper of insights.

According to the findings, community concern about the negative impacts from homelessness has increased, homeless people are facing more stigma and there is more misinformation about the activities of social agencies.

Business and neighbourhood leaders are frustrated over repeated negative impacts from people who seem unable to recognize they need help and the community is frustrated with people who keep committing crimes and keep getting bail.

Many health and social service leaders point to a small number of people who are causing a lot of negative impact in the community and are unwilling to get care. The results show an interest in bail reform for repeat offenders and mixed interest in mandated care for those unwilling to get help.

"There are different views among health professionals on whether people have better outcomes when care is mandated," Singh said. 

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The report said the community should understand this is a large crisis and everyone needs to work together to find solutions and accept some risks in the collective work. Social housing and service agencies should make efforts to lower the negative impacts on surrounding areas and society should not further stigmatize people who have experienced homelessness or suffered from mental illness and substance-use disorder.

“We want to shift the mindset from identifying problems to identifying solutions, from polarization to collaboration,” Singh said. "How do we get to a proactive place instead of a reactive one?" 

There's a need to enforce laws but with homeless people it's generally recognized it isn’t an effective approach.

When it comes to enforcement the report said society is turning away from an enforcement mindset and instead building connection and “not further disenfranchising already disenfranchised people.”

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Many participants felt Kamloops needs more skilled outreach workers who can build trust with homeless people, are easy to reach and have a wide range of services to refer people to. Clients’ information with permission should be accessible to multiple agencies so as not to keep repeating the intake process.

There's a difference of opinion on whether the city should focus on harm reduction or recovery, with many saying both are needed as successful harm reduction can lead to a more effective recovery.

There's general agreement that the city should bulk up on harm reduction services like safe supply, detox and recovery beds and more safe inhalation sites to lower the risks of overdose.

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Most participants felt mental health and substance use should be treated as health conditions and that recovery pathways should be available.

The report touched on ideas on finding more people to work in the service and health sector, along with how find employment for people coming out of recovery programs.

The report said there were conversations about the need for more shelters and stable post shelter housing, along with the need for an accessible network of support to help reduce relapses.

“Everyone agrees we need more housing, outreach and help for folks exiting recovery programs,” Singh said. “How do we work together to make those things happen?”

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The next possible steps for the Kamloops Solutions Project could include creating a task force to help house and support homeless people, bringing those with lived experience into the discussions and the inclusion of metrics and data to support these insights.

Other ideas include the creation of a card for businesses and residents with numbers of who to call when they are concerned for someone’s wellbeing or to report negative incidents, and to launch an education campaign to combat stigma related to homelessness.

Singh intends to bring the project findings to Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc and Kamloops city council.

For more information on the project findings or to join the Kamloops Solutions Project, email Arjun Singh at arjun@bettercitizen.ca.

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