ASK Wellness CEO believes debate around movement of homeless can be ended with provincial data

As communities like Merritt tackle crime issues tied by the local RCMP to homeless people coming into the town from around the province and beyond, questions are being raised about how best to address the challenge. ASK Wellness CEO Bob Hughes believes the information needed to end the debate once and for all is already in the hands of the government, and simply needs to be released.

Every community in B.C. has heard some version the story of ‘X, Y or Z’ is busing people in. While never confirmed by any facts, that story persists anecdotally throughout community.

“We are literally eating ourselves alive. Creating these kind of mythical stereotypes of people being shipped in, which we know is not the case,” said Hughes. “Every community is making these kind of claims that it’s happening and we need the province to come forward and actually provide us with the information about – are we seeing migration of people from one community to another?”

That data is held by the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction, as it distributes cheques and direct deposit funds to people experiencing homelessness across B.C.

We know people who are struggling with homelessness, addictions and other issues put strain on emergency services and on the community. If we are able to see if people are moving or migrating from one community to another in a large mass, then we know there is something organized and we can respond accordingly. This is something I’ve actually asked the province to share with us,” Hughes told CFJC News.

CFJC requested an interview with Minister Sheila Malcolmson to ask if that information could be used. We received a statement that did not directly respond to our inquiry.

After our broadcast deadline, the ministry provided further comment.

“The ministry does not collect or maintain data for the purpose of tracking individuals’ movement between communities. Information collected through assistance programs is used to administer benefits and connect people with supports,” reads the statement. “Given the small number of individuals in some communities, providing detailed location or address-change information could create a risk of identifying specific people. For that reason, information is generally shared only in aggregate form.”

“They are always reluctant to release it because they use the privacy thing, but… you can just blank it out, redact the names and let’s have a look at these things,” said Fraser-Nicola MLA Tony Luck. “Any kind of information that way would be very, very helpful for that.”

With the ministry set to utilize data such as the Point-in-Time Counts to track potential movement, the request from ASK will continue.

“Until that time, we are dealing with anecdotal stories, people saying they are from the community or saying they are from here. Let’s really get to find out where these folks are from and then be able to provide the appropriate resources to that community that may be burdened by a disproportionate number of people with no fixed address who are living homeless and are on income assistance,” said Hughes.