Fort St. John councillor addresses outrage over homeless encampment

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Fort St. John city councillor Trevor Bolin has given his reaction to the encampment outside Walmart. (Facebook)

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Fort St. John city councillor Trevor Bolin has provided a response to the outrage surrounding the homeless encampment near the local Walmart.

On September 13th, aerial footage was released on a Fort St. John community Facebook post showing several tents and large amounts of trash, leading many to express frustrations about the city’s encampment problem.

The city councillor spoke with Energeticcity.ca on Monday, saying the encampment is a “terrible sight.”

“We feel exactly the same way that they do, enough is enough,” said Bolin.

Bolin provided information saying he believes the encampment has 13 tents set up and around seven people living in the area.

Bolin, along with councillors Gord Klassen and Sarah Macdougall, formed a homelessness committee in August, to address homelessness in the region.

Since its formation, the committee has had its first meeting and has taken steps to meet with stakeholders and organizations like BC Housing to gather data on vacancy rates and bed counts for homeless people living in the city.

“Our first task is to gather all of that information so that we can make a call,” said Bolin.

Bolin says the city cant address the encampment issue is because of Bill C-45, which he says prevents municipalities from taking action against any encampments if there are not enough beds available.

On Saturday, Bolin also decided to camp in front of the Provincial Court of British Columbia on 100th street in order to send a message to BC Premier David Eby.

Bolin’s tent outside the Provincial Court of British Columbia. (Facebook)

Bolin called for policy change, saying provincial rules don’t allow the city to solve its various problems.

“Please make the change that municipalities in British Columbia need and want,” said Bolin.

The councillor says he received significant support from people passing by his tent, including members of the RCMP.

“Nothing creates a conversation like me standing in front of the government building beside a tent and a sign that has the Premier’s phone number on it,” said Bolin.