Trail city council has removed two sections from its draft official community plan update, dealing with supportive housing and drug treatment sites, pending further discussion.
The changes came at the urging of councillor Nick Cashol.
He said council hasn’t formally debated or provided direction on the subjects. He asked that BC Housing and Interior Health be invited to council to explain what plans they have to establish such facilities in Trail.
Cashol said he thought it was “inappropriate to embed support for a specific housing model in the official community plan without clear council direction and meaningful public discussion.”
He added his motions don’t prevent future councils from considering low barrier supportive housing or overdose prevention sites, but ensure any decisions are “done transparently, intentionally, and with council approval first, rather than through the OCP by default.”
The draft plan said the city will “Work with BC Housing and non-profit organizations to ensure a sufficient supply of low-barrier supportive housing and that it is appropriated located.”
Another section listed an objective to “Ensure adequate institutional land is designated to serve residents” and said the city should collaborate with Interior Health and other groups to “ensure drug treatment facilities, including addiction treatment centres and overdose prevention sites are established and maintained in appropriate locations.”
Mayor Colleen Jones said she was “willing and open” to further conversations on the subject, adding that supportive housing “is a really complex issue.”
“We’re dealing with addiction, mental health challenges and public safety concerns all at once,” she said. “So we know that these issues don’t exist in isolation.”
Councillor Bev Benson said she agreed the topics deserved a “robust discussion” rather than being buried within a long document.
Land acknowledgement also removed
In an unrelated motion, Cashol asked that a section in the plan’s introduction about First Nations be temporarily removed. It says Trail is the traditional home of the Sinixt, Ktunaxa, and Sylix and elaborates on Sinixt use of the land.
Cashol asked for a staff report on “the legal meaning and implication of the terms traditional home and whether such language implies or could be interpreted as recognition of unceded territory or aboriginal title.”
He also requested clarification on whether the Sinixt, Ktunaxa and Sylix are “understood to have occupied the Trail area concurrently, sequentially, or in different capacities based on historical and anthropological sources.”
He further asked if the acknowledgement could have “legal or policy implications for future councils, municipal decision making, land use planning, or private property rights” and whether staff have had or plan to discuss the wording with the First Nations mentioned.
Cashol said his motion was “not intended to diminish or deny Indigenous history or presence in our region. Rather it is intended to ensure that the Official Community plan is accurate, clearly understood, and does not unintentionally create legal uncertainty for future councils and residents.”
Unlike many municipalities, Trail doesn’t begin council meetings with a land acknowledgement, although it has co-hosted events for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
While some local land acknowledgments mention specific nations, others are more generic:
• Rossland acknowledges the “traditional, ancestral and unceded territory” of the Sinixt and says it also honors “all other Indigenous people” who walked on the same lands.
• The Regional District of Kootenay Boundary acknowledges the “Indigenous Peoples
on whose traditional and unceded lands we operate,” but doesn’t name anyone specifically.
• Grand Forks’ acknowledgement says the confluence of the Kettle and Granby Rivers is a “location of ancestral importance to the hunters and fishers of our Indigenous communities,” but doesn’t mention them by name.
• Castlegar has struggled to come up with a land acknowledgement and currently doesn’t use one.
• Selkirk College’s land acknowledgement has a few variations, but each refers to the Sinixt, Syilx, Ktunaxa, and Secwepemc.
Trail council agreed to each of Cashol’s motions, although councillor Paul Butler voted against the removal of the section concerning the land acknowledgement.
Trail’s official community plan hasn’t been updated since 2001.
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