The mayor of Kamloops says he is hearing from minor hockey parents “in droves” about Memorial Arena’s continued use as a homeless shelter.

Not long after it was announced that Memorial was going to be used as a homeless shelter for an indefinite period of time, Ken Christian said “users aren’t going to like to hear this, but they’re going to have to look at going out of town.”

About six weeks later Christian was back on NL Newsday, and noted how he previously said this was going to be a challenging situation, and now that we are approaching the winter the challenge is being felt.

“We’re hearing from the Kamloops Minor Hockey Association in droves. I think I’ve had at least 80 pieces of correspondence from them in the last 72 hours. The issue is, do we reclaim it for recreational purposes and displace 50 people out onto the streets because there are no alternatives.”

Christian says many have been making suggestions of other locations where those living in Memorial Arena could go, but ownership is an issue.

“I have had a lot of people suggesting why couldn’t they go to the old bus depot or why couldn’t they go to Penny Pinchers or why couldn’t they go to the old Keg building? Well, we don’t own those buildings. It would be up to BC Housing to negotiate leases with those owners and then do the tenant improvements that are required so that you have not only floor space for pods and bunks, but also washrooms and showers and food facilities to provide the amenities that are required for these chronic homeless individuals.”

Councillor Bill Sarai spoke to the issue on the NL Morning News. “We know that recreation and taxpayers are paying for that building. That is for them to use. We are conscious that they shouldn’t be left on the street either, but is the Memorial Arena the best option for emergency shelter? In my opinion, no. It is an ice rink,” he says.

“We can do better than that. BC Housing can do better than that. We just don’t know how actively they’re looking around for other sites. Do they feel the pressure we feel from our user groups? My honest answer is no, they don’t. This is meant for the residents and the recreation community of Kamloops.” H\

Sarai says no one should be forced to travel to other communities to play hockey. “They are Kamloops residents. They pay taxes in our town and BC Housing needs to hear that.”

BC’s Minister of Housing David Eby agreed that using an arena is not ideal. “An arena is not where we want people who are homeless to be living for two reasons. One, it is not a purpose built facility and the other is when you think about the stress and the impacts of the pandemic on folks the chance to go and play hockey or skate around with friends and family is a great way to be normal for a little bit. So to lose that essential community amenity is a big problem,” he told NL News.

“BC Housing is working closely with Kamloops to find alternate locations… The system is really strained,” Eby says. “BC Housing, frankly, has gone above and beyond trying to identify spaces and so has the City of Kamloops. I’m very grateful to the mayor and council for trying to respond to this in a really proactive way, but the outcome of it is that the system is quite strained in terms of staffing and available spaces.”

Christian says the city is currently only housing about half of its homeless population and taking away the space at Memorial Arena will exacerbate the situation further. “So it is a social issue and [Tuesday] I was asking staff about where are we compared to Vernon, Kelowna, Penticton in terms of housing the numbers of [homeless] people identified in our point in time count. And we are at about 50 per cent of the people who are homeless in the city right now. So to drop that by another 50 beds I think would really weigh on our conscious,” he says.

“On the other side of the coin I have had some passionate emails from parents of minor hockey players talking about their children getting out of the COVID blues and hockey is a real relief for that. And I get that, I understand sport. I think that we’re just going to have to share the limited ice that we have. We lost the Ice Box and we’re working to try to replace that and now we have lost Memorial and we are going to work on that as well.”

The ice rink at 740 Victoria Street has been used as a shelter since May of 2020. Back in July the city stated that it will stay that way until it can work with BC Housing to find a new shelter space.

Eby says the province is “working really hard with Kamloops and everyone is aware of the critical importance of returning that arena to the community, and if we can we will.”

BC Housing Working to Relocate Arena Shelter

In a statement to NL News on Friday, BC Housing providing shelter to those experiencing homelessness is always a top priority.

“Kamloops has a serious housing shortage with all shelters currently at capacity, including the temporary emergency shelter at Memorial Arena. We understand that the Memorial Arena is an important community space for Kamloops, and we will continue to work with the City to find other shelter locations. We have always intended to move the shelter out of Memorial Arena when feasible without putting people back out onto the streets. We appreciate the patience of the community and will have more information to share in the next few weeks.”

The Crown corporation says it will continue to work to find shelter space for every homeless resident of Kamloops ahead of the winter months.