At a Terrace city council meeting on Sept. 26, a protest broke out in response to a petition concerning the relocation of the Ksan Turning Points residence and shelter.
Currently located on Lakelse Avenue downtown, the shelter will be moving to the old Elks Hall on Tetrault street to expand their bed count to 20.
Following this announcement in August, residents and neighbouring businesses of the hall began expressing their concerns. Appearing as a delegation to council, Kyle de Medeiros presented a petition and several letters from residents.
In his presentation, de Medeiros claimed that the facility is not properly licensed by the province, and, because of that, the zoning is inappropriate.
At the time of the presentation, the petition had gained 372 signatures with de Medeiros saying that he was still receiving responses. Letters that were involved in the delegation stated worries of theft, safety, and the proximity of the shelter to schools.
Following the presentation, Billy Morrison, the organizer of the protest, asked a question regarding what alleged drug dealers on the street thought of the petition before getting up to exit the council chambers while chanting that, “the opposite of addiction is love and connection.”
Morrison says that he organized the protest to give a voice to the vulnerable people in the community. Council then recessed after Morrison inquired about safe supply, leading to two complaints being filed to the RCMP.
Two RCMP officers arrived shortly after the group exited city hall, staying to monitor the situation while the demonstrators remained outside drumming and singing.
In response to de Medeiros’ presentation, Coun. James Cordeiro expressed his support in the idea to discuss a different location with both Ksan and BC Housing. Council approved the motion to open up the discussion.
In a statement to CFTK-TV, Ksan said that the facility is zoned appropriately, so once they acquire adequate funding, they will go ahead with the relocation.
Listen to the CFNR story below: