Williams Lake city council's decision to consider declaring a state of emergency over safety concerns in the downtown came up in the B.C. Legislature May 28.
Minister of State for Community Safety and Integrated Services Terry Yeung answered a question in a media scrum about the topic.
Yeung said public safety is important to the provincial government and his ministry hopes to have a conversation with mayor and council to understand the challenges the city is facing. Yeung said he has already reached out to the city's mayor and RCMP to offer support.
"The province has been supporting many different programs in Williams Lake the last couple years," said Yeung, noting improved RCMP resources and the almost 40-bed emergency shelter expected to open in June or July.
The reporter asking Yeung the question appeared to be under the misunderstanding a state of local emergency (S.O.L.E.) has already been declared in the lakecity.
City council voted four-three in favour of staff looking into the possibility and providing a report to council on the option at a regular council meeting on May 27, 2025.
A S.O.L.E. would need to be initiated by a bylaw or an order issued by the city and would be valid for a period of seven days before it would need to be approved by the province in order to be extended.
"We're not even there yet," said Mayor Surinderpal Rathor.
With files from Mark Page.
