A Kamloops City Councillor says a proposal to look at building a wellness centre for people with mental-health and addiction issues is like creating a concentration camp.
Dale Bass made those comments on the NL Town Hall when asked about fellow Councillor Denis Walsh’s notice of motion, which will be discussed next Tuesday.
“I’m supposed to be objective, I’m not the least bit objective about creating a concentration camp out in Rayleigh. And that is how I view it,” she said.
“Apparently, we’re supposed to force people into this camp, force them to take classes and that never works for anyone. You know that. Take them away from ready access to the outreach services that they need and just get them out of sight.”
Walsh’s motion says the wellness centre would create a refuge for people who need supports. He likened it to the Honour Ranch in Ashcroft, which is meant for Armed Forces members, veterans, emergency services personnel, and their families as they battle injuries including anxiety, depression, and PTSD.
He is also calling on the City of Kamloops to explore the feasibility of developing city-owned land to create the facility, the Kamloops Ranch property, or another site that might work better.
“With a financial partnership with BC Housing and other levels of government in order to provide a complex care model with a wide range of support services on site,” he said. “Services such as life skills training, education, along with a recovery program to positively change the lives of people in need.”
“The goal would be to provide a quiet and safe place for citizens to have to access support services, including access to nature, life skills programs and recreation.”
But Bass says moving people away from existing outreach services is not the way to solve the issues in Kamloops.
“If you read what some of the people are saying. ‘We are supposed to round them up, drive them out there, stick them in there and put a fence up, and tell them they’ve got to follow all the rules. Put them in camps.’ I’m sorry. That just sounds, not humane,” she said.
A wellness centre away from the city centre has been floated by Reid Hamer-Jackson, the owner of Tru Market Truck and Auto Sales on Victoria Street West, an idea he told NL News came about after multiple visits to the VisionQuest recovery centre near Logan Lake.
Bass told Kamloops This Week that while her choice of words could have been better, she would not be apologizing.
“No, I’m not apologizing about what I said because I believe it,” Bass was quoted as saying, adding the notice of motion caters to a “loud, but small group” that has been pushing for treatment to be forced upon people.
“I can’t apologize for believing that everything in there is sparked from this loud crowd. I can’t apologize after having been exposed for months to such anger, dehumanizing anger.”
“A study for a facility to be built at a location that cannot be built on does not make sense to me,” she said Thursday in an email to a resident, that was also sent to NL News. “A facility like the one an agency head talked with me about this week does make sense to me and I’m hopeful they can eventually move forward with it.”
It is not clear what facility she was referring to in that email.
The Kamloops Ranch property used to be the Rayleigh Correctional Centre, which closed in 2002. It also used to be a Department of National Defence munitions depot, and was also used to store waste oil drums and coal, as an incinerator, a fire pit, and a landfill.
In 2011, the City of Kamloops built the Tournament Capital Ranch at the site.
A case study done several years ago noted that other future development on the property “may include an exhibition/agri-plex building and equestrian facilities.” There was no mention of temporary social housing as a possible use of the land.
“The Tk’emlups First Nation is making plans for an RV park, and a portion of the land has been retained for agricultural use,” it said.
If his motion is approved at Tuesday’s meeting, Walsh is hoping to see that feasibility report from Kamloops staff early next year.
– With files from Brett Mineer
