Homeless in Kelowna

City Council should be ashamed

I agree. Fining the homeless is very foolish and only deepens the poverty cycle. But I understand this is a complex issue!

Please look after the poor.

Need to find a better solution...keep working at it

I was recently homeless and was great full for gospel mission and other society to help me

I try to imagine the situation: a "complaint" is made, or an officer decides for himself that someone is "deserving" of a ticket. They are now out $50 that they could've spent on a cheap hotel, and now they have to relocate...to where? This bylaw is asinine. It would bring our city one step further towards being the pristine tourist city that I'm sure many heartless people hope for, but it would come at the expense of the well being and social acceptance of hundreds of people down on their luck who need support - not more stigma against their unfortunate lots that they have drawn. Please, please do not approve this bylaw. Reid Schulz

Compassion pls.... fines are unexcusable...how a fear of tripping more important than showing live and compassion. Shame on businesses that complain!!!! Wrong just wrong. They are our people.

Another fine homeless can't pay And then get breached if they don''t and send them to jail? Talk about kicking someone when they're down What the hell is the matter with our city council Once again it's $$ before people

The mayor and councillors are total grinches! Bah and Humbug!

9 years ago Featured

This bylaw targets our most vulnerable citizens and doesn't fit into the bigger picture of a homelessness strategy. It is unconstitutional and only serves to criminalize the homeless. It needs to be repealed immediately.

The mayor and councillors say they want to make Kelowna "welcoming and safe" in the same breath that they propose a bylaw that further discriminates against our most vulnerable and unsafe citizens. We should be focusing our efforts in preventing and intervening with homelessness, not fining and stigmatizing the people who have no where else to go. Our city cannot keep expanding and prospering while it leaves people behind in the dust. Homelessness is something that we cannot just brush under the rug so that tourists get to see the "shiny side of the coin." We can make real sustainable change to homelessness, and this is not the way to do it.

This is so spot on. I work with many families who struggle with homelessness when their children are apprehended and all their income disappears, they lose their homes or can't find one... the homeless should simply be housed. No one can succeed if they do not have access to basic necessities. These people need care!! and the governing bodies would do good to look globally for more creative means of ending homelessness...because slapping a monetary fine on a person who already has nothing...literally nothing but whatevers in the shopping cart and whatever substance makes life suck a little less. Obviously no family or friend to help pay the cost of rent in Kelowna. And did you know many of the homeless are your veterans? Or children of such trauma it would make you blanch? These people need to be treated as people and the answers are simple. Not easy, but simple. I believe our community has the capacity to find an answer that makes me proud to be a citizen the okanagan, and this is not it. Please check out the research on successful homelessness management strategies, because this is awful for everyone involved from the outreach workers to the cops to the homeless. Strategies like this one are what makes the system absolutely impossible for everyone involved. Aghhhh!

I am signing this petition in support of Kelownas homeless I once was a homeless person in the city of Kelowna and was once woken up in the middle of winter by a police officer kicking me in the head and telling me to move on in the middle of the night. I was behind the old drop in centre not harming anyone and not making a mess of any kind. The police in Kelowna already treat the homeless like scum on their shoe they don't need any more bylaws to give them ammunition. Kelowna needs more supports in place for the homeless especially those trying to stay clean from drugs.

9 years ago Featured

What would you do if they didn't pay the fine? Put them in jail? Well if you did that, good thing, they would have a place to sleep, 3 meals a day & be out of the cold BUT you would have to us some of our money to hire more help at the jail. So I say get the money together & build some decent shelters,,,

An ill considered bylaw only for the interest of the proviledged. It is City staff and Council's responsibility to represent all Kelownians. Think of the message you are sending before signing off on the fourth reading. At VERY least postpone the vote until you actually review the language and tone you're setting with this bylaw.

We can't continue on this heartless path. What makes Canadians special is that we value ALL life. Let's bring these people indoors. Shelters and help to a place of their own.

Where are they supposed to go? “There is no Them. There are only facets of Us.” John Green (American Author)

9 years ago Featured

People on welfare or disability can not afford a place of their own in Kelowna, it is too expensive. It takes an entire welfare cheque to pay for a room in a shared appartment. Fining a welfare recipient just makes it that much harder to survive, it add to an already untenable situation.

I am looking forward to hearing more about all the work City Council is doing to create housing solutions in Kelowna, and I think, in general, Kelownaites would love to see more information and public advocacy leadership on this issue from mayor and council. There is a lot of work going on, but right now, most people don't really know about it. Please reconsider this bylaw - perhaps there are other short-term solutions to downtown streets at night.

There is a protest today at city hall https://www.facebook.com/events/226644407769264/