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VICTORIA — Premier David Eby came prepared with announcements as he spoke to leaders of British Columbia’s local governments, promising more involuntary care facilities for those with severe mental illness and addictions, and to bring in legislation to build the North Coast power line.
Eby told delegates at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention on Friday that the new care facilities in Surrey and Prince George will add about 100 more beds as part of a broader push to control crime.
“We feel a huge urgency around the need for this kind of care for people, to expand beds, both in the North and Lower Mainland, on (Vancouver Island) and in the Interior,” he told reporters after the speech.
“We’re going to ensure that we’re opening beds everywhere across the province,” he said. “We’d like people to be able to receive this kind of care that they need close to home, where family and friends can get support.”
Eby could not offer specific details about the new beds and their timelines, but said the province is looking to use existing buildings, rather than build new ones.
The announcement comes as several municipal leaders push for the expansion of involuntary care to cope with public disorder and homelessness in their cities.
On Wednesday, Dozens of municipal leaders from across the province were joined by several current and former Conservative MLAs outside the legislature to push for help as communities try to cope with what they say is widespread public disorder that has become dramatically worse in recent years.
“I understand the impatience,” Eby said, when asked about that gathering.
Eby said he’s “proud of the fact” that B.C.’s crime rate has fallen by 11 per cent.
“But simultaneously, I’m concerned about the reality that people don’t feel safe in the community, when they see people, who are really openly struggling with mental health and addiction, where there is repeat property crime being committed against local businesses that are causing them to close their doors.”
Eby said later that work on expanding involuntary care had begun well before the local government leaders conference.
He also told delegates the province is investing additional resources to deal with homelessness, as well as services for victims of crime, and he is “very hopeful that the federal government will be introducing significant reforms to the Criminal Code this fall.”
Eby said that details of the proposed changes by Ottawa are “fuzzy” when asked whether the changes will address individuals repeatedly committing property crimes.
He acknowledged the detrimental effects of property crimes and petty thefts committed over and over by a small group of individuals.
“I know that nothing can be more corrosive to a downtown or to business confidence,” he said.
The newly elected UBCM President Cori Ramsay, a Prince George councillor, welcomed Eby’s announcement on involuntary care, saying it will save municipalities money, which will then become available for local services.
The premier also promised civic leaders that the North Coast power transmission line, to run between Prince George and Terrace, will generate billions in investment for jobs in northern and rural communities.
He said his government is “far from perfect” and that the road ahead won’t always be easy, but he has “never been more confident” that the best days are ahead, promising that B.C. won’t be “bullied” by American tariffs.
The premier’s speech was briefly interrupted by a protester yelling ‘shame, shame’ as he urged delegates to walk out in solidarity for Palestinians.
About 50 protesters representing various environmental, community and Indigenous group, also protested Eby’s speech outside Victoria Convention Centre. The event included a five-metre-tall inflatable likeness of Eby hugging two smoke stacks, which organizers say, were meant to draw attention to the premier’s embrace of fossil fuels.
“I’ll certainly acknowledge there’s a creative and interesting likeness,” Eby said, when asked what he thought about the inflatable.
Federal housing and infrastructure minister Gregor Robertson spoke to the crowd earlier Friday, saying the province will see more housing on federally-owned lands, but could not say where and when that will happen.
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced 4,000 new housing units this month on six federally-owned sites when launching the new Build Canada Homes agency, but none of those are in B.C.
Robertson told delegates the six sites are “just the first of many” to be announced in the months ahead.
As a “B.C. boy,” Robertson said he is going to make sure homes will be built on suitable federal lands, and the government is working with provincial, regional and local governments to find those sites.
Robertson said B.C. has been at the “front and centre” of a decades-long housing crisis, which has now spread to the rest of the country.
Robertson, who as mayor of Vancouver in 2008 promised to eliminate homelessness in the city, said the Carney government will “build homes with urgency at a scale never seen before.”
When Eby was asked about B.C.’s exclusion from the housing announcement, he said that he had raised the issue with Robertson during his recent visit to Ottawa.
“He assured me, and I believe him, that this is just the beginning of the work that’s going to happen,” Eby said. “We have huge opportunities with respect to federal lands here in British Columbia, to increase housing in a way that will provide support to local communities.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2025.
Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press
