West Kelowna residents want to feel safe in their own community.

People want to walk through our parks, use our trails, shop in our neighbourhoods and take their children to community facilities without encountering open drug use, aggressive behaviour or unsafe activity. At the same time, most residents understand that people experiencing homelessness, mental illness or addiction need help.

These priorities are not in conflict. I believe we can protect our community while helping people who are experiencing drug addiction, mental health issues and homelessness.

Public spaces belong to everyone. Residents have a right to safe and welcoming public spaces, but people struggling with addiction also deserve compassion.

I believe the City of West Kelowna should work with the RCMP to ensure that laws and reasonable standards of behaviour are consistently enforced, particularly when these behaviors make public spaces unsafe. Compassion should never mean looking the other way.

I would advocate for the city to work with RCMP, Interior Health, community organizations and BC Housing to develop co-responder and mobile crisis programs.

Co-responder programs pair RCMP members with licensed mental health clinicians, nurses, or social workers to safely de-escalate crisis calls. Teams respond directly to calls involving mental health or addictions. Clinicians take the lead on health assessments while officers secure the environment. Individuals are linked immediately to local health services. 

Police officers should not be expected to handle every mental-health or addiction crisis on their own. At the same time, someone experiencing a crisis may not need to be arrested or sent to an already-overburdened emergency department.

Mobile crisis programs are essentially “boots on the ground” outreach responses that brings trained professionals directly into neighbourhoods where people are struggling with mental illness, addiction, homelessness, or a combination of these issues.

The goal should be simple: get the right person to the right place at the right time.

Housing is an important part of the solution, but a roof alone does not necessarily address addiction, mental illness or chronic homelessness.

West Kelowna should support appropriate transitional and supportive housing where it is connected to the services people need. However, at the same time, these facilities should have clear expectations that address safety, behaviour and accountability.

The City of West Kelowna should make it clear that open drug use, aggressive behaviour and criminal activity have no place in our public spaces. While at the same time, help people who are experiencing homelessness, mental illness or addiction. 

This is the kind of balanced, compassionate leadership I would bring to City Council. I believe West Kelowna can be both a safe and caring community—one where residents feel confident using our parks, trails and public spaces, and where people struggling with addiction, mental illness or homelessness can get the help they need. If you believe, as I do, that we can protect our community while helping people get their lives back on track, I would be honoured to have your vote on October 17.