Whereas homelessness is a challenge facing both urban and rural communities; And whereas electoral areas have the least ability to address homelessness, in that they are by their very nature remote from health, social, police and other services and the minimal tax bases cannot support the hard and soft infrastructure required to address homelessness; And whereas the provinces response to homeless encampments on Crown land has been inconsistent or ad-hoc in nature, sometimes relocating encampments without taking into account impacts on rural communities and regional district resources: Therefore be it resolved that the Province of British Columbia through its newly established Office of Homelessness Coordination within the Ministry of Poverty Reduction and Social Development develop a rural homelessness strategy to address what is clearly work with local governments to develop policy to address rural homelessness, which is currently a gap in the Provinces response to homelessness.
Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction Government is committed to supporting and addressing the needs of people experiencing homelessness - a shared responsibility of all orders of government. Effective actions to address homelessness require a coordinated effort in order to be successful. Under TogetherBC, the Provinces poverty reduction strategy, Government has established an ongoing monitoring and cross-ministry coordination role including BC Housing that assists in responding to encampments in both rural and urban areas. Government is committed to continue to address rural homelessness throughout the province. Government has developed the Encampment Response Guidelines for Ministries to provide consistent information and best practices when encountering encampments, including those on Crown land. To better support local governments and community partners, Government has also developed the draft Local Government Homeless Encampment Response Resource that provides guidance, best practices and key contacts and information on resources for people in encampments.