A Colwood councillor has spoken out against a suggestion VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 homeless housing project B次元官网网址� known as Tiny Town B次元官网网址� should move to another municipality.

The 30-unit shipping-container 颅village, located on the parking lot next to Royal Athletic Park, has an agreement in place to stay open until September 2025.

According to Victoria City Councillor Jeremy Caradonna, Tiny Town B次元官网网址渉as to move next yearB次元官网网址�, and he says he is preparing to bring a motion to an upcoming meeting requesting neighbouring jurisdictions take on hosting the temporary facility.

In an online question-and-answer session with Vibrant Victoria, Caradonna said he feels the homeless crisis in Victoria is reaching a B次元官网网址渂reaking pointB次元官网网址� and the city is B次元官网网址渋nching closerB次元官网网址� to declaring itself B次元官网网址渇ullB次元官网网址�.

B次元官网网址淐urrently the city has 420 folks in shelters and 716 units of supportive housing, with 216 more in the works,B次元官网网址� said Caradonna. B次元官网网址淭he rest of the region has practically no shelters and very little supportive housing."

B次元官网网址淲e simply cannot do it all,B次元官网网址� he added later, explaining because of provincial supportive housing targets, Colwood, View Royal, Oak Bay, Saanich and others are B次元官网网址渘ow on the hookB次元官网网址�. 

B次元官网网址淚t's their turn to do their part,B次元官网网址� said Caradonna.

But Colwood Coun. Ian Ward disagrees and has accused Caradonna of attempting to shift the cityB次元官网网址檚 problem onto other Greater Victoria municipalities.

According to Ward, the City of VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 own initiatives to support the homeless community have been unsuccessful, forcing them to look elsewhere for a solution.

B次元官网网址淚 would put it this bluntly, they failed,B次元官网网址� said Ward about the City of Victoria, speaking to Black Press Media. B次元官网网址淭heir experiment has failed. And rather than clean up their own mess, they want others to do it for them.B次元官网网址�

WardB次元官网网址檚 feelings have been shared by some West Shore residents online, whilst others have labelled the pushback as a NIMBY reaction.

B次元官网网址淲e're not NIMBYs,B次元官网网址� said Ward, who described himself and his Colwood colleagues as sympathetic to the homeless issue. B次元官网网址淰ictoria created this problem, itB次元官网网址檚 on them to fix it. The notion that that we share a responsibility in that is frankly false. And I think it's disingenuous of them to put it in those terms.B次元官网网址�

According to Ward, in comparison to Victoria, the West Shore does not have a significant homeless, addictions and mental illness problem. But the councillor does acknowledge there is a number of people in the community needing help from the city.

B次元官网网址淲e want to take care of our residents first,B次元官网网址� said Ward. B次元官网网址淥n all ends of the spectrum B次元官网网址� that includes the homeless community, the folks struggling with addictions and mental health problems. We want to care for them and do the work to help B次元官网网址� and advocate for them. 

B次元官网网址淏ut we do not want to become a dumping ground for Victoria's problem B次元官网网址� because of years of ideology that has backfired.B次元官网网址�

Coun. Caradonna declined an interview with Black Press Media ahead of the provincial election.