A motion to prohibit overnight sheltering in certain Powell River, B.C., parks and public spaces and allow it in others was defeated on Tuesday night.
“Since we had a shelter that closed in May of last year, 2025, the number of homeless people sheltering in parks has increased, mostly in forested areas,” acting Mayor George Doubt told Global News.
“We have a new building called the Driftwood Shelter that houses 40, but it’s not big enough to house everybody that’s living rough right now.”
LIFT ran the shelter that closed in May 2025, but they lost the lease on their property and had to close down, Doubt explained.
“So from May 2025 until they opened the Driftwood Shelter, there was really no shelter in Powell River.”
The Driftwood Shelter opened in late April this year.
Pat Martin organized a gathering of residents ahead of the council meeting so people could have their say.
“I want to have a safe community and we do not have a safe community anymore. We used to have a safe community. I was born and raised here in Powell River. I went away, I did a lot of work in third-world countries. I’ve come back, I’ve made this my home and I have a lot of compassion for people, but what’s happening is not working,” she said.
Martin said the city council needs to put more thought into the plan for the unhoused in the community.
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Mark Scott with the Westview Ratepayers Association, which advocates for local residents, spoke at the rally on Tuesday.
“We believe there is a better way,” he said.
“And the better way is hearing from you and working together on solutions. We don’t have all the answers, but we’re very confident that we’ve got a better way that’ll move us forward with your voice — not in isolation, not seven guys on council making a decision, but all of our community.”
Scott said they sent a letter to the acting mayor and council a few weeks ago outlining what he said is a plan to address homelessness in the community.
Resident Nichole Strickland spoke at the council meeting, saying she, like many residents, feels frustrated that their voices are not being heard.
“This is not about lack of compassion; I think every person deserves dignity, support and a community to rebuild their life, but compassion also means creating solutions that actually help people, not simply relocating a complex issue into one of our city parks,” she said.
An unhoused person, identified only as Robert, spoke at the meeting, saying people are not looking for a handout, but a hand up.
“A lot of us try to just make it through the day and do the best we can and try to live a better life,” he said.
“We struggle, we have our issues, we understand that, but we don’t want to harm people, we don’t want to hurt children, nothing like that.”
Ultimately, no one was in favour of changing the bylaw, with Doubt saying he thinks they need to pause and rethink how they move forward with this plan.
He said everyone in the community, including those living in the forested areas and parks, should be involved in formulating a plan.
Coun. Jim Palm said this is not an easy subject to talk about.
“It just puts you in another space as to what’s going on out there because I walked the encampments this morning and saw first hand — actually, that’s the first time I’ve done it; I should have been there previous — but what I saw was certainly not healthy,” he said.
Palm said that what he saw was unsanitary and that he did not feel safe walking the trails.
“There are two-storey structures with windows; it’s just mind-boggling what’s out there,” he added.
Coun. Trina Isakson agreed that the issue is a complex one.
“There’s concerns about supporting the dignity of people living in encampments,” she said.
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