Surrey Board of Trade

The Surrey Board of Trade understands and appreciates the provincial government’s position that no one ever again should see the kind of tragedy that occurred last year in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. We believe that the success of this initiative will depend very much on the local resources that are in place. A sufficient number of low barrier shelters where people can take their belongings and pets is necessary to increase the likelihood that more people would willingly seek shelter in the event of extreme weather conditions.

The challenge outside Vancouver, including in Surrey, is that there may not be the number and variety of shelter beds available when extreme weather warnings are issued.

We understand that shelters are not a solution for housing but they do provide needed overnight safety for individuals without shelter.

The questions and concerns that we have include the following:

1. If there are no beds available will the police take a person to an adjacent municipality? If no beds are available will the police take a person to the lockup? If so, what would happen the next morning to someone who has been displaced from the only area that they know? What would be the impact on that adjacent community and to businesses there? What responsibility exists to return someone to their point of origin?

2. What is “reasonable force”, in the context of the Act, when used to compel an individual to accompany police to shelter? How much force would be applied to someone who physically resists the police when asked/told to go to a shelter? What risk does this present to the subject or the officer?

3.  What will be the appetite of police to enforce such directives? When police are required to carry out the procedures within this legislation, will this impact service to other areas of the city?

Finally, we also believe that individual freedom and dignity are as important as personal safety.  This law should be enforced to make people aware of their choices.  It should not be used to make their choices for them.