Homeless men from Saskatchewan sent to BC with one-way bus tickets

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Saskatchewan’s apparent move to send two homeless people to our province on one way bus tickets is being described as inhumane by one Vancouver city councillor.

Councillor Kerry Jang says the city will not turn its back on these two men, one of which is mentally ill.

“If these two individuals do end up in the City of Vancouver, like all homeless people, we treat them like human beings,” says Jang. “That’s what makes our city great, is that we actually have a caring and compassionate city. We would look after them, try to get them stable, and find out where they want to go or what they want to do.”

“Our province doesn’t throw people on a bus and send them away hoping they’ll never come back.”

And Jang isn’t mincing his words when describing the Saskatchewan government’s decision. “When I first read the story, I was absolutely disgusted and shocked,” says Jang. “I mean, you don’t treat human beings that way. That’s the first thing that came to my mind. You don’t treat human beings that way.”

“I think it’s quite disgusting what the Saskatchewan government is doing. It’s not humane. You don’t treat people like that. You don’t put them on a bus to somewhere else hoping that they don’t fall through the cracks. They have no supports here, they have no connections here. They’ve essentially put these individuals at risk for death or other types of problems. It’s a terrible, terrible policy on the part of the Saskatchewan government, and I’m disgusted by it.”

Jang is referencing a story which initially broke in the Saskatoon Star Phoenix newspaper, which reports two men are coming to BC on one-way bus tickets provided by social services in that province.

“What this says to me is that homelessness is clearly a national problem. It’s not just a problem in the big cities, like Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, but it’s throughout our country. We’re seeing it more and more. You think about it, even here in British Columbia. Victoria, we have a homeless camp, Abbotsford, Maple Ridge, Surrey.”

“We’re seeing a growth of homelessness around the country, which really speaks to the need for having a national program now. We know from research that the best way of ending homelessness is to treat people in their homes for their mental health, addiction or whatever problems they have, before they become homeless and move to the big city, or other provinces,” Jang.

One of those men is reportedly coming to Vancouver, the other is going to Victoria.

In the case of the man who has a history of mental illness, Jang says sending him here without a support network is inhumane.

He’s calling on the premier to speak directly with Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall on this issue.

Critics say it’s becoming clear homelessness is a national issue and needs a national solution.

Just a few months ago, SFU researchers studied where the homeless on the downtown eastside came from and found over half of the people they talked to did not come from Vancouver.

The BC NDP’s housing critic David Eby says the transient nature of some homeless actually became a reason not to do any more here. “When I was working with a lot of homeless folks, one of the arguments that I would hear from people is we can’t provide a lot of housing and services in BC when other provinces aren’t because all it will do is become a magnet for people across the country.”

Eby adds the men in this case will have no services available for them. “These folks are not going to immediately qualify for health care for example because they won’t have MSP cards. I really hope this was a mistake and an oversight or there’s more to the story we don’t know about.”

Eby says nationally coordinating services for the homeless would ensure people from all provinces are getting the help regardless of where they live.