Kamloops mayoral candidate proposes alternative to Hamer-Jackson’s treatment ranch

A Kamloops mayoral candidate has pinpointed a city-owned plot of land as a one-stop-shop for homeless and addictions supports as part of his election campaign.

That may sound familiar, but you would be wrong if you’re imagining a rural property in Rayleigh.

Mike O’Reilly is proposing a complex of services in the Mission Flats area, bringing BC Housing and Interior Health into one location on a city-owned plot of land. He calls it a “campus of care” that would start with moving an established shelter to the industrial area and centralize social services to one place.

“There are a lot of the right pieces of the puzzle scattered around the entire city, and that makes it very difficult,” O’Reilly told iNFOnews.ca.

Social disorder and public safety are expected to be a top issue for the upcoming election, and the campus of care is central to O’Reilly’s campaign in addressing the ever-increasing homeless population in Kamloops.

O’Reilly, currently a city councillor, said it would bring “full wraparound services” to one place for people who are homeless or struggling with addictions.

Current mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson campaigned on a similar proposal for what he called a “wellness ranch,” pitched for the Rayleigh area near Tournament Capital Ranch. He told iNFOnews.ca in a text message he hopes it’s similar to that proposal while lamenting that council has previously turned it down.

O’Reilly said there are big differences from Hamer-Jackson’s plan.

“It’s close to areas with services for individuals, the built infrastructure is already in place and the cost savings because of having an eight-and-a-half acre site in the middle of the city makes it much more favourable of a location for a shelter and wraparound services,” he said.

However, city council has attempted to have a similar facility built in the last few years.

The city announced plans for an “access hub” on the North Shore in 2024, but the project never came to fruition because of real estate issues.

“The issue around the access hub has always been the location. Where is the location? Now we have one for this to happen,” O’Reilly said.

The plan would move the existing Merit Place shelter to 800 Mission Flats Road, he said, where it’s central for the people using it by being near the city centre, but the separation into the Mission Flats area provides a buffer for residential neighbourhoods and businesses.

While Hamer-Jackson has long talked about his proposal for a treatment facility in Rayleigh, it isn’t something he has raised as mayor since 2022. It also isn’t mentioned on his campaign website.