Mayor Krog meets with Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing

NEWS RELEASE - Distributed November 5, 2019 10:30 AM

On Thursday, October 31, 2019, Mayor Leonard Krog met with the Honourable Selina Robinson, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, in Victoria. MLA Sheila Malcolmson and MLA Doug Routley were also present at the meeting as were senior City staff Jake Rudolph, Chief Administrative Officer and Dale Lindsay, General Manager, Development Services.

During the meeting, Mayor Krog acknowledged the commitment and dedication of BC Housing’s team to working collaboratively with the City to address our housing and mental health crisis. This includes BC Housing’s active participation on a Council led Health and Housing Task Force.

Mayor Krog also raised some key issues with Minister Robinson in hopes of getting collaboration from other ministries, which included enhancing the current wraparound services that will in turn better help address mental health, addictions and poverty in our community, especially as the City continues to work with BC Housing on finding new supportive and housing units. Below is a summary of some of the support the City is looking to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs & Housing to:

• Work with the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions to find solutions in order to equip and support housing operators with the tools and resources needed to handle the complex health needs of their tenants.
• Advocate for the City of Nanaimo to be considered for pilot testing of programs supporting mental health and addictions treatments.
• Support with resourcing an additional extreme weather shelter (and other types of shelters) in the event that the extreme weather season continues this winter.

This is not the first time the Mayor and members of Council have met with a Cabinet Minister regarding health and housing related matters.

This August, Councillors Bonner and Hemmens, Chairs of the Health and Housing Task Force along with Task Force members and Mayor Krog met with the Honourable Judy Darcy, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and discussed the social issues impacting the City and community at large.

During the 2019 Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) Convention, the Mayor and members of Council met with Minister Darcy again to continue their discussion around mental health and addictions and that Nanaimo would welcome a mental health and addictions treatment facility. They also met with Island Health’s President and CEO and their Board Chair conveying a similar message.

“Nanaimo, like many cities across this country, is dealing with some challenging social issues, but Council and staff are committed to working with BC Housing, various ministries, authorities, and not-for-profits to ensure Nanaimo remains a livable and safe community for our residents, businesses, and most vulnerable," said Mayor Krog.

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