Selina Robinson, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, has released the following statement in response to the City of Maple Ridge enforcing an evacuation order at a homeless camp in Maple Ridge:

“The Province is offering significant support to the people living in the Anita Place camp, and to the City of Maple Ridge. We have activated Emergency Social Services to make sure that everyone who has been evacuated can access shelter, food, and health and social services.

“The safety of the community, and the residents being evacuated, is our immediate focus.

“In the longer term, this reinforces the need to act quickly and build more supportive housing in Maple Ridge.

“Dozens of former Anita Place campers now have the dignity of homes and support services in the modular housing we opened several months ago.

“We must move quickly and work together to get more people into the safe and supportive homes they urgently need.”