The B.C. government is considering using the former Victoria Youth Custody Centre in View Royal as temporary housing for homeless people, the Times Colonist has learned.
View Royal Mayor David Screech said the town has had no formal discussions with the province about the proposal, but is aware that it’s being considered as a possible solution to the homeless camp on the lawn of the Victoria courthouse.
“I know there are discussions going on, but I don’t know of any definitive plan and we certainly haven’t, at this point, been approached with a definitive plan,” he said.
Screech said it’s his understanding that the facility, if approved, would be similar to the 40-person shelter run by Our Place in the former Boys and Girls Club on Yates Street in Victoria.
“I know that there’s just been a lot of ideas and brainstorming and things swirling around on how to deal with tent city, and that’s one of them that’s on the table,” he said.
“But there certainly has been no formal approach from B.C. Housing or from the province to View Royal on it at this point.”
Housing Minister Rich Coleman was unavailable for comment on Wednesday.
“You can check in later this week,” ministry spokeswoman Sandra Steilo said. “The minister’s in Ottawa. He’s going to be coming back later this week and that’s when we’ll be able to chat more about that.”
The Ministry of Children and Family Development announced in April 2014 that it was closing the jail to save about $4.5 million a year and offset a corresponding loss of federal money.
Children’s Minister Stephanie Cadieux said at the time that government could no longer afford to house an average of 15 youth a night in a facility that was built for 60, but staffed for a maximum of 24.
The ministry planned to hold Vancouver Island youth temporarily in police cells before transporting them to the Burnaby Youth Custody Centre. Police, however, balked at that plan, arguing that police cells were no place for vulnerable youth.
The ministry was forced to keep part of the jail open as a temporary holding unit for youth travelling between court and custody.
Last fall, the government hired five temporary on-call staff to ensure supervision and support to youth when required.
Asked if Cadieux had any concerns about youth in custody being in such close proximity to homeless people, the ministry replied that the youth holding unit is self-contained with its own entrance and exit.
“There are no security concerns with the addition of the new tenants on the site as that portion of the facility is also separate and fully secure,” the statement said.
Youth in custody are always accompanied and supervised by a ministry staff member or a sheriff and most stays are for 24 hours or less.
The unit has been used an average of three days per month since July 2015. However, in January, the unit was used a total of 13 out of 31 days. This was a significant increase due to the need for overnight holds to accommodate court appearances but not part of an ongoing trend, the ministry stressed.
Representative for children and youth Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, who criticized the decision to close the youth jail, has heard nothing definitive about using the facility to house homeless people, her office said Wednesday.
Grant McKenzie, director of communications for Our Place Society, was unable to comment on whether the youth jail would be used as a homeless shelter.
“What I can say is we welcome any opportunity that helps people get into housing. Our Place is always open to new ideas and new solutions to get people out of the cold and into warm, dry shelter.”
Victoria lawyer Rick Schwartz, former chairman of the Canadian Bar Association section for youth justice, said he’s not concerned by the prospect of a temporary shelter at the youth jail.
“It seems like a good idea,” said Schwartz.
“If a client of mine is there, they are there in custody. Their contact with anyone else using that facility will be zero.”
Schwartz has always been in favour of keeping the youth detention centre available for community use — such as a remand facility for women on Vancouver Island — and for holding young people.
He believes the biggest challenge will be getting the tent city campers to leave the lawn outside the Victoria courthouse and move to the more isolated facility in View Royal.
“Unless there are very good transportation arrangements, I can’t see it being used for shelter purposes,” Schwartz said.
“I can see it being used for longer-term stays, but not when a person is expected to go in there and do something else in the day and come back.”
One of the reasons the facility is being considered is that it offers indoor and outdoor accommodation for those who want to set up a tent.
The facility, built for 60 people, has a gym, a kitchen, beds, showers, health facilities, nursing stations, a classroom and a woodworking shop, Schwartz said.
“It could be used very, very well by that community. It would be underutilized to use it just as a shelter,” he said.
