Kamloops mayor’s invisible hand at work in recovery housing demand

Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson has long called for social housing in Kamloops to invest in drug recovery programs, so it was “music” to his ears when council unanimously supported such a lobbying effort.

It was a rare moment of enthusiastic support from the controversial mayor as he joined the rest of council in demanding BC Housing invest more services into an upcoming North Kamloops supportive housing project and others throughout the city.

Speaking with iNFOnews.ca, Hamer-Jackson said he not only applauds council’s support for more drug recovery programs, he claimed a hand in making it happen.

“You know how, in part, I did it? I did it by getting the citizens to email city council,” he said. “I did it very early on.”

It was councillor Kelly Hall who proposed the initiative through a notice of motion, citing feedback from residents and non-profits. Council heard from residents opposed to the housing project shortly after BC Housing’s plans went public, but Hamer-Jackson said that followed his meeting.

“When they first introduced that project on Leigh Road, I had citizens contact me to meet with them… I said you’ve got to express your concerns to our council, and it’s a good idea not to mention my name,” he said, estimating there were 30 people at the meeting.

“They did a great job. The citizens’ voices were heard and what happened was it was going in front of council on a Tuesday. They hammered emails to council all weekend.”

Hall’s motion prompted several councillors to express frustration with BC Housing, particularly over plans for the upcoming Leigh Road site to be a low-barrier facility. It was a project first brought to council more than a year ago and was approved for a rezoning application earlier this year.

The housing ministry indicated the program may focus on drug recovery before reverting in the fall to a harm reduction housing site with fewer services, councillors said.

“I’m putting this on the minister’s lap because she’s made it clear all she cares about is wet (housing), not recovery,” Coun. Dale Bass said during the Dec. 9 council meeting.

The extent of council’s lobbying includes requests to meet with the ministers of health and housing, aiming to discuss recovery-oriented supportive housing and a desire to see tangible progress in how each are addressing the toxic drug crisis.

Hamer-Jackson’s call for more recovery programs instead of low barrier supportive housing sites, which he calls “drug housing,” began before he ran in the 2022 election. Expanding those services was also one of his stated goals during the campaign.

“If we can do more of this, get more of these buildings converted to recovery, you know what’s going to happen? Some of the biggest costs we have — RCMP, (the bylaw department), fire department,” the mayor said.

Most of his term has instead been bogged down with his various conflicts, starting early with personal legal disputes with non-profits that serve the homeless community and continuing with city administration and other councils.

While he hasn’t been able to work with councillors over the past three years, Hamer-Jackson said the Leigh Road email campaign from residents was an example of him using “a different way” to influence council.

“I listened to (the residents) and they listened to me, and guess what happened, success. If I’ve got to do more of it — I don’t want to let all of my strategy out of the bag here … but I’ll let you know when the strategy is working,” he said.