The City of Kamloops will be lobbying the province to change the temperature at which cold weather response shelters are triggered to open after a motion from a city councillor was approved by council.
Coun. Dale Bass discussed her motion during a council meeting last week. The motion recommends calling on the provincial government to open shelters throughout the province when temperatures hit 0 C or lower, and at higher degrees when there’s wet, snowy or windy conditions forecast.
Currently, extreme weather response shelters in town open when temperatures drop to -10 C.
“Fundamentally, the reason for my motion is, what’s a human life worth?” Bass said.
She said she understands there would be a cost to the provincial government associated with this change, as shelters would open earlier, close later, and beds and wraparound services would need to be added. She added there’s also considerations around capacity for the social agencies which run the shelters.
“We worry about extreme heat and deaths. How many times do you hear people talk about extreme cold and deaths, except when it's really cold — not the rest of the year,” Bass said.
“This needs to be built into ESS [Emergency Support Services], it needs to be built into EMCR [provincial Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness], this needs to be dealt with by the provincial government. And I know they won't. And I know we will.”
The councillor’s motion cited the BC Centre for Disease Control, which states people can be at risk for hypothermia when temperatures drop below 10 C, if they aren’t well protected from cold air exposure. The motion noted winter response shelters open at 0 C or lower in 13 Metro Vancouver municipalities.
Bass’ motion recommended Kamloops council submit a resolution to the Southern Interior Local Government Association to lobby the provincial government to open shelters at 0 C — up from the current temperature trigger of -10 C — in line with recommendations from the BC Health Effects Anomalous Temperature Committee’s cold-weather response.
The motion also recommended sending a letter to B.C.’s Ministry of Housing, asking staff to meet with the city to discuss this request.
“I had a friend die from hypothermia who was unhoused. And I've never gotten over it. Because I didn't do anything to help him, because I didn't know he was out there,” Bass said.
“He had a place to live in, but the agency wouldn't let back in because he was drunk. And he died. And I've lived with that ever since.”
Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson said he also knows people who have died due to the cold.
“I think that what we’ve really got to look at is making sure nobody's out in the cold. I don't care if it's zero or 5 C, or whatever,” he said.
“It's just unbelievable to me that we are still kicking people out on the streets of our city and around the province when it's cold like that.”
Hamer-Jackson suggested amending Bass’ motion to request the province open extreme weather shelters at 10 C.
“No, we can't because we are now using government statistics to tell the government to use the government statistics,” Bass replied.
“If we go over that, we're going to look like we are daydreaming. … At least this way, we're saying ‘Hey, step up and do what you're told to do by your own people.'"
Council voted in favour of adopting Bass' motion.
