Over the past week, BC Housing has been relatively silent as the Quesnel Shelter & Support Society and the City of Quesnel have gone toe to toe over the proposed Elliott Street supportive housing project.
The communications team at BC Housing released a short statement to the Observer today.
It read: “We will continue to work with the city and the non-profit society collaboratively to ensure this much-needed supportive housing project continues to move forward. We welcome any feedback from the community and will continue to work with both parties to address any concerns.”
Regarding the Good Neighbour Agreement, BC Housing said: “A Good Neighbour Agreement is under development between the City of Quesnel, Quesnel Shelter & Support Society, and other agencies and individuals in the community.
“Although we are supportive of this process, BC Housing is not involved in the development of this document at this time.”
In a city council meeting Oct. 3, council said they would request a formal press release from BC Housing regarding whether BC Housing shares the views expressed by the Quesnel Shelter & Support Society in their Oct. 2 press release, which read: “The board of the Quesnel Shelter and Support Society (QS&SS) condemns, in the strongest possible terms, Mayor Bob Simpson’s obstruction of a proposed supportive housing development for Elliott Street, along with mischaracterizations, misinformation, and inaccuracies recklessly peddled by him and fellow councillors.”
It also said Mayor of Quesnel Bob Simpson had “used his position to bully our society and attempt to micromanage operations”.
City of Quesnel director of development services Tanya Turner said that the city has not heard from BC Housing regarding QS&SS’ press release.
She said she has been in talks with BC Housing recently regarding the Elliott Street facility’s operationg model, and thinks they are getting close to having a clear, plain-language statement outlining how the project will be run.
Council has stated that they require this document, as well as a Good Neighbour Agreement and three completed readings of the housing agreement bylaw by Oct. 31.