VICTORIA— After more than two months of inaction from B.C. Liberals, a protesting tent city of homeless residents in Maple Ridge is finally getting provincial attention, said B.C. New Democrat MLA and housing spokesperson David Eby.

“I joined with committed local residents, businesses, tent city residents, and officials in a cooperative effort to increase the pressure on the provincial government to resolve this unacceptable and dangerous situation,” said Eby. “With the hard work of these committed Maple Ridge residents, combined with a compassionate Mayor and Council that wanted a lasting solution for their community, we put the pieces in place, then we filed a motion in the legislature on this past Thursday that the Liberals acted on the following day.”

At this stage, the government’s commitment is to simply fund temporary housing for tent city residents – which Eby stresses is good first step, but not a solution.

“The needs of Maple Ridge aren’t unique. Communities across the lower mainland are grappling with tent cities due to a shortage of affordable rental housing, addiction services and mental health services,” said Eby. “We hope that the government doesn’t wait for months to support desperate local officials in the future and that this is hopefully the beginning of their work to support cities facing homelessness crises.”

Eby said it’s in everyone’s best interest to deal with homelessness quickly by getting people housing and the services they need as it’s cheaper, more humane and better for cities across B.C.

“I want to applaud the Mayor of Maple Ridge, Nicole Read, who stood strong and demanded lasting and compassionate solutions to homelessness,” said Eby. “I’m glad that the Mayor, neighbours, local business owners, and the tent city residents finally got a promise from the B.C. Liberals to get the homeless out of the blazing heat of Cliff Avenue and into a setting where they can be supported. Temporary funding for temporary housing is not the solution. I hope the B.C. Liberals move to solve this problem permanently with real supports and affordable housing.”