Photo: KTW file

ASK Wellness Society's Bob Hughes says low-barrier housing operators are calling for changes to the Residential Tenancy Act.

A Kamloops non-profit is among a group of nearly two dozen low-barrier housing providers calling for an immediate weapons ban in supportive housing and a new legislative framework to help manage facilities and protect residents.

The B.C. Coalition for Safe and Sustainable Supportive Housing is urging the province to remove supportive housing from the Residential Tenancy Act to create custom legislation factoring in the realities of low-barrier housing facilities.

Bob Hughes, Ask Wellness executive officer and SaSSH vice-chair for the Interior, said issues stem from last year’s changes to the Residential Tenancy Act, which brought supportive housing under the legislation.

The call to action was spurred by the death of a Victoria man in a supportive housing building — an incident that is being investigated as a homicide. Hughes said the housing operator tried twice to have an individual evicted due to the presence of weapons, but both attempts were unsuccessful.

“In a supportive housing setting, when you have people living with active addictions, struggling with mental health, other behavioural issues that impede them from being able to live in traditional housing, then you end up with very serious issues that are not well met by the RTA,” Hughes said.

Tenancy act 'does not work'

Hughes said in the Interior, housing providers are putting together a “chronology” of experiences dealing with the Residential Tenancy Act when it comes to concerns arounds safety and trying to evict someone who poses a danger to others.

He noted a Kamloops case where it took six weeks to have a resident removed — a man who caused $25,000 in damage by intentionally turning on taps in his building and causing floods, among other destructive acts.

“For us as a provincial coalition — we have our Interior coalition that has a very strong position that we put forward as well — this was basically saying we've tried to work with the RTA,” Hughes said.

“We’ve attempted, in good faith, to use the mechanisms in place — and this and many other examples highlight the sad reality that this framework just doesn't work to provide supportive housing.”

Hughes said since the introduction of the Residential Tenancy Act into supportive housing, there’s also “tremendous risk aversion” for operators to take on people with complex issues — which negates their role to support and provide care for these individuals.

In its news release, the coalition said it was concerned that it can’t deal effectively with weapons concerns or violent behaviour under the current tenancy act regulations. Housing operators also report difficulty removing trespassers from the property, some of whom are known to have weapons or to be aggressive.

Hughes said there is an enforcement challenge, as RCMP can be reluctant to intervene in situations where guests are on people’s property. He added the RCMP has been a vocal supporter of housing operators’ concerns with the Residential Tenancy Act.

New framework proposed

He said the Interior coalition, comprised of eight housing operators, have sent a letter to the minister proposing a hybrid approach — and has received a promising response.

He said the proposal involves looking at supportive housing as a tenant development program.

“There is no other framework. You actually have treatment and recovery, which is bound by provincial guidelines through the assisted living registry, and you have tenancy, and there's nothing in the middle. And what we've been asking for is, let's create that middle,” Hughes said.

“Let's create a framework, a legislative framework with proper oversight and dispute process that acknowledges that most of the people coming into supportive housing have complex barriers that we can help them with so that they can gain the skills to become tenants.”