Some forced out of hotels, advocates say

B.C. Housing said Friday that it never intended for anyone to be displaced when it began moving people into hotels and motels this week from homeless camps at Topaz Park and Pandora Avenue.

But the Together Against Poverty Society in Victoria says that’s exactly what happened at the Travelodge on Gorge Road.

Emily Rogers, a legal advocate, said the society was contacted by a number of people renting rooms at the hotel, saying they had been told to vacate the premises.

“They were told that they needed to leave to make room for campers that need housing coming from Pandora and Topaz,” she said. “As far as I know, they were given a pretty short amount of time to vacate the rooms.”

Rogers said she arrived at the hotel late Thursday morning to find eight people sitting outside with all their belongings.

“A couple of them were scrambling to get cabs,” she said. “There was a bit of panic amongst them, because they had heard a rumor that there was a couple of rooms left” at another hotel.

Rogers, who is advocating for the eight people, said none of them at that point had spoken to officials from B.C. Housing.

“Some of my clients are now in other hotels,” she said. “I don’t know whether the costs of their rooms are being covered.”

Heidi Hartman, B.C. Housing’s director of operations for Vancouver Island, was unable to say how many people have been displaced or how that happened.

“I can only share what B.C. Housing’s commitment is, that individuals were not asked to leave,” she told reporters Friday. “And I know that the owner has been working hard alongside us to come up with housing solutions as well.”

The Travelodge did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.

Hartman said it was unfortunate to learn that some people apparently left the hotel and had no place to stay Thursday night.

“When we heard that, it was heartbreaking to be honest, because our team had been there, messaging yesterday that people did not have to leave, that people were welcome to stay,” she said. “They were doing assessments, talking to individuals.”

Hartman said B.C. Housing is working with 29 people who had already been staying at the Travelodge. She said some of them are still there, while others have already been transferred to more appropriate housing.

“And if there was anyone that did spend the night outside, they need to reconnect, and they’ll be welcomed back to the community because B.C. Housing never asked anyone to leave,” she said.

Rogers said Friday she’s glad to hear that it was never B.C. Housing’s intention to displace anyone “That would be very concerning if it was,” she said. “Regardless, people were asked to leave in order to make room for other people and that makes absolutely no sense.

"So I’m extremely concerned that this happened in the first place.”

Rogers said she’s seeking assurances from B.C. Housing that no other low-income residents of hotels will be displaced in the future and that the government will compensate anyone who has already been displaced.

“These folks were definitely paying their way,” she said. “They’re also really vulnerable folks. A lot of them had come from homelessness … and displacement is really damaging to them.”

The B.C. government has ordered people to leave the Topaz and Pandora camps by May 9.

Social Development Minister Shane Simpson has pledged that people will be offered temporary housing with wraparound supports and 24-hour staffing in hotels and motels in order to prevent an outbreak of COVID-19 and reduce the risk of drug overdoses.

B.C. Housing said Friday that 67 of about 360 people in the camps at Topaz and Pandora camps had moved indoors as of 4 p.m on Thursday.