While Burnaby’s mayor and council have stood steadfast against projects like the Kinder Morgan pipeline, we’ve had to hold their feet to the fire on other issues.
A topic that has appeared in NOW headlines repeatedly has been Burnaby’s lack of a permanent homeless shelter.
His Worship Derek Corrigan has said numerous times the city is not in favour of a shelter because it “never works.”
“When you provide an overnight shelter and throw them back out on the streets, you don’t do anything except continue a dysfunctional situation,” he said during a Dec. 16 interview, adding the provincial government needs to address the issues that are keeping people on the streets. “You need to have facilities that are going to give people the treatment that they require and transition them into some kind of permanent housing.”
But critics like Wanda Mulholland, the coordinator of the Society to End Homelessness in Burnaby, said there are some new homeless people in Burnaby, and it can be hard on them if they’re not used to being outside.
The city is one of the only Metro Vancouver municipalities without a permanent homeless shelter. An extreme weather shelter, however, does open up when temperatures drop below freezing. It has 30 beds and is run by the Lookout Society and funded by B.C. Housing.
A consequence of not having a permanent facility is that the majority of the city’s homeless population is getting services in other communities, according to Lookout’s executive director, Shayne Williams.
Burnaby city council has also be criticized by the arts community for the will-it-ever-happen art gallery.
For years, local artists have been waiting for the city to lend a helping hand to build a gallery somewhere in the municipality.
The Burnaby Arts Council has been in limbo since February, waiting for a report from the city in response to its request for a feasibility and a desirability study for the project.
In September, Coun. Nick Volkow suggested the planning department was tied up dealing with the issues of housing. He chose not to speak on behalf of council when asked if he supported the idea, and noted the growth of the city and the amenities available in the community.
“Somewhere in there an art gallery would fit in,” he said.
