FILE PHOTO

Image Credit: FACEBOOK/Reid Hamer-Jackson for Mayor

The mayor of Kamloops wants to arrange transportation for homeless people looking to move to other cities, but non-profits are already doing that work.

Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson has proposing the City use surplus grant funding to pay for transportation, and City council is set to vote on his notice of motion tomorrow, Sept. 12. His proposal doesn't mention that it's already something service providers will arrange.

One of those is the local branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association, but they don't simply hand out bus tickets to people who want to move, according to executive director Alfred Achoba.

"When we are making those decisions with clients, we're looking at what is the best option for them that will meet their needs," he said, adding that it includes exploring whether they will have housing and mental health supports in a new city.

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This year 39 people have gotten bus tickets from the mental health association to move to other cities. In 2022, a 67 people received bus tickets and 49 in 2021.

"We need to talk to the ministry to make sure that they have access to funds," Achoba said. "There is medication management, care support planning, there's a bunch of planning that needs to go into relocating someone."

He said organizations are "collaborative" as they arrange for a person who is getting assistance from the province and non-profits to move somewhere else, rather than simply dropping them off. The funding for transportation is less important than what's available once a person arrives in a new city, he said.

Hamer-Jackson didn't return phone calls from iNFOnews.ca, but Achoba said the mayor should be aware local non-profits arrange bus rides. It's not clear whether the mayor consulted with local service agencies before preparing his proposal, but Achoba said he wasn't called.

READ MORE: No signs of end to mayor's year-long legal spats with non-profits

"I know he knows, but... it's just another opportunity to stir the pot," Achoba said, calling the plan "divisive."

During the 2022 election, Hamer-Jackson focused much of his campaign on his goal to tackle homelessness. Part of that included his desire for a third-party review of non-profit housing organizations.

He received threats of legal action from Achoba's lawyer before the election and from Ask Wellness, another local non-profit, shortly after. The mayor then kept his distance from social issues early in his tenure. 

None of those threats appear to have culminated with legal action, and Hamer-Jackson's newest proposal appears to be an effort to bolster local services rather than critiquing service providers.

Hamer-Jackson proposed the transportation program include a team consisting of himself, City staff and staff from local non-profits, suggesting the name "Reaching Home Ride Home."

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