Vernon mayor blasts MP

Photo: Carmen Weld

Rob Sawatzky reads his statement at Monday's council meeting

Vernon's mayor is blasting Okanagan-Shuswap MP Colin Mayes over comments the mayor calls disturbing.

Rob Sawatzky used Monday's city council meeting as a place to air his grievances with Mayes over comments Sawatzky says the MP made at the recent unveiling of a homeless memorial in Polson Park.

According to Sawatzky, Mayes said at the memorial dedication that homelessness was/is not a government issue.

“For Mr. Mayes to state that this was not a government issue is, at best, disturbing. It is clearly a government issue,” stated Sawatzky to council. “A reason we have the issue is precisely because of senior government policies.”

He went on to say quite passionately that Mayes' salary is paid by the public and that if he truly believes government has no role, it might be appropriate for him to resign his position.

“He is abdicating a responsibility with his stated position and we in local government suffer the consequences in our communities, without the appropriate tools to deal with the issue, despite our very best intentions,” urged Sawatzky, who says he remembers a time in Canadian history when homelessness and issues surrounding affordable housing were only issues you heard about in the states.

Sawatzky was near irate in his damning statement of the Okanagan Shuswap MP.

But, Mayes insists his comments are being misinterpreted entirely.

In an email statement to Castanet News, Mayes says he is quite shocked at Sawatzky's comments and that in his nine-years as Mayor of Salmon Arm he never once criticized the local MP or MLA in an open meeting of council.

“The professional approach is to meet with the elected person you have questions for and sit down in a professional manner and talk over the policy,” writes Mayes, who says that no one from the City of Vernon or its council has contacted his office to ask for a meeting to discuss homelessness in the area.

He says his comments at the event are being misconstrued and that he did not imply homelessness was not a government issue.

“In that context, I referred to the fact that the people that are homeless are not homeless because of government, it is due to addictions (drug and alcohol) and mental illness for the most part,” explains Mayes who says the federal government has invested in programs that assist the homeless. “This was an event to remember those that had succumbed to their illness, not a time to criticize government for not giving enough money to fix the problem.”

A point Mayes says is not the real solution to problem, he says money does not fix homelessness.

“The homeless prefer to live in tents in civic parks because living in a home has expenses, they need all their financial resources to support their addictions. This is why the homeless shelters are so busy, the homeless receive a bed, food at no cost and no questions,” claims Mayes.

“The solutions are not found only in providing homes, this is a humanitarian response not a government program response. Government can partner with communities, but money will not fix the problem, caring people will fix this problem.”