Pollievre compares major B.C. city to a 3rd world country. People living there say that's not right

Garth Gorrel and his wife, Debbie Houghtaling, have been camping along the Okanagan Rail Trail at the north end of downtown Kelowna, B.C., for two years.

Gorrel, a former steelwork‐ er in Kamloops, and Hough‐ taling, who used to do online clerical work for an Albertabased janitorial service, both lost their jobs due to layoffs at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hoping to find employ‐ ment, the couple relocated to Kelowna but had no luck. Un‐ able to afford a rental apart‐ ment, they made the decision to shelter outdoors.

"We're staying right there — home sweet home," Gor‐ rel said, standing near their makeshift residence consist‐ ing of two tents, a vegetable garden, and their dog Kismet.

"Don't get in people's way, and you will be fine."

In May 2021, the City of Kelowna set up what it calls an "outdoor sheltering site" on the Rail Trail where people could sleep in tents between 6 p.m. and 9 a.m. every day. The main purpose of the des‐ ignated camping site was to discourage people from camping in city parks and oth‐ er public spaces. The city has since expanded the allowance and estimates about 100 peo‐ ple are camping there daily.

However, the couple didn't anticipate encounter‐ ing strangers intruding on their lives, driving through the encampment area, filming, and hurling derogatory re‐ marks at the campers.

"They drive by and say "crackheads" or one guy went by with a megaphone [say‐ ing], 'Don't do drugs.'

"We're not all drug ad‐ dicts," Houghtaling said. "You feel like you're on display."

She believes that those filming are a paycheck away from experiencing homeless‐ ness themselves. To her sur‐ prise, one of the videos they captured was uploaded to TikTok over the weekend.

Two days later, federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre tweeted the TikTok video, gaining over 11,000 likes.

"These images are not from a faraway third-world country. This is Kelowna after eight years of Trudeau and the NDP," Poilievre wrote in the tweet.

Campers, city decry Poilievre's polarizing tweet

Houghtaling finds it ab‐ surd that a politician would choose to use a TikTok video that lacks any context about the Rail Trail campers.

"Why has he not even come down and spoken to anyone here or driven by and filmed it himself?

"To use us on his platform to make him look like he's a better leader?" she said. "Any‐ one who says those are the people that are running our country is laughable."

The Central Okanagan, home to over 222,000 people, is Canada's fastest-growing metropolitan area, according to Statistics Canada. Like many other regions in British Columbia and Canada, it has been grappling with a rapidly increasing homeless popula‐ tion.

Darren Caul, Kelowna's community safety director, estimates that there are at least 200 people living out‐ doors throughout the city, a fourfold increase over the past two years.

As a public servant, Caul says he refrains from delving into politics but believes it is unfair to single out Kelowna on social media for its home‐ less population.

"Communities across the province — in fact, across the country — are having to ad‐ dress and deal with the unfor‐ tunate consequences of our economics and social condi‐ tions.

"It's disappointing because it shows just a sliver of our community," he said.

Kelowna's commitment to address homelessness

Caul says Poilievre's tweet fails to acknowledge Kelow‐ na's world-class amenities, such as the beautiful Okana‐ gan Lake, beaches and winer‐ ies.

He says it also neglects to mention that the Central Okanagan municipality imple‐ mented a five-year Journey Home strategy in 2017, part‐ nering with B.C. Housing and non-profit organizations to address homelessness and addiction issues.

"Housing as well as mental health and problematic sub‐ stance use issues are man‐ dates of the provincial gov‐ ernment, but that doesn't stop the City of Kelowna from rolling up our sleeves and get‐ ting involved," Caul said.

The Journey Home strate‐ gy is currently undergoing a review, and Kelowna city council will decide whether to extend the program beyond 2023 based on its outcome.

In the meantime, Gorrel and Houghtaling rely on meals and subsidies from the city's Gospel Mission, a home‐ less support organization, while continuing to search for employment and affordable housing.

"Twelve hundred [dollars a month] is probably the best," Gorrel said.

"Or even 1,500 [dollars a month] with utilities includ‐ ed."