LETTER – Permanent multi-use facility needed for evacuees, homeless

Regarding all the recent talk about shelters for the street entrenched:

Maybe city council could discuss and examine the possibility of a facility that could serve as an evacuation centre for those fleeing flood and fire in spring, summer and fall, and then, during the winter months when flood and fire are not issues, it could be used as a shelter for those needing a warm place to sleep.

Almost every year, our community hosts hundreds of people displaced by climate events.

We need to come up with a solution that alleviates all three problems. We can’t continue to rely on the generosity of the Tk’emlups band to supply property and meal facilities for evacuees.

With support from all levels of government, municipal, provincial and federal, a facility could be built that would answer the needs of evacuees, the street-entrenched and our budding athletes.

Maybe such a facility could even be used to billet out-of-town sports teams as well. In my view, a facility of this nature would be a much better use of tax dollars than the piece-meal, last-minute solutions we’ve experienced to date.

LINDA OLDFIELD