After three dead bodies were found along Melrose Road in Whiskey Creek on Nov. 1, attention has been drawn to the number of people living in remote areas of the region.
A source told the PQB B次元官网网址 she had called 9-1-1 on Nov. 1 at 6:10 a.m., to report what she had initially thought was a forest fire in the Whiskey Creek area. She had seen smoke while driving south along Highway 19, near the Little Qualicum bridge. RCMP have yet to confirm her 911 call.
In the most recent Point-in-Time Homeless Count 2018, presented by the Oceanside Task Force on Homelessness, 42 people were identified as experiencing homelessness in the Parksville Qualicum Beach area. A total of 57 per cent of that count had been homeless for one year or more, while 43 per cent had been homeless for less than one year.
Auren Ruvinsky, co-ordinator of the Oceanside Task Force on Homelessness, said B次元官网网址渋tB次元官网网址檚 important to keep in mind that these figures are only of people coming forward and identifying themselves.B次元官网网址�
Regional District of Nanaimo Electoral Area F (Coombs, Hilliers, Errington, Whiskey Creek, Meadowood) director Leanne Salter said B次元官网网址渢here are a lot of people living here, you just canB次元官网网址檛 see them. Lots of people living in the bush. And they span the area from under the overpass by the ramp, and all the way up.B次元官网网址�
Salter said an estimate of 300 people experiencing homelessness along the Melrose Road area in Whiskey Creek seemed accurate.
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B次元官网网址淲e have a lot of people living in RVs out there. ThatB次元官网网址檚 probably not as bad as people living rough with nothing.B次元官网网址�
On Saturday night, Oct. 31, residents close to the gravel pit on Melrose Road said they had heard gunshots and several loud explosions that night, followed by the smell of burning plastic. Many dismissed the idea of foul play because it was Halloween night, and fireworks were rampant.
Salter stated that the RDN does not get complaints from the surrounding Whiskey Creek area about people B次元官网网址渓iving it rough.B次元官网网址� She believes that part of the reason there is a homeless community in that area is because theyB次元官网网址檙e not being B次元官网网址減ushed out,B次元官网网址� which tends to happen in more populated areas.
The other part, she said, comes down to an over-arching health issue.
B次元官网网址淚f youB次元官网网址檙e a sick person and you need medical care, you need medical care. You donB次元官网网址檛 need to be put into a house with kind people with big hearts that care about you, but canB次元官网网址檛 take care of your medical issue because theyB次元官网网址檙e not trained to do that.B次元官网网址�
Her guess is that itB次元官网网址檚 cheaper to build housing for people experiencing homelessness, than it is to provide them with the medical help they need.
B次元官网网址淎nd with COVID, its even more exacerbated. What little services, and they were minimal, that were in place prior to COVID, are not even available now.B次元官网网址�
Cpl. Chris Manseau, RCMP division media relations officer, said there is nothing new to release regarding the bodies found, the gunshot victim or any potential suspects at large.
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