A Kamloops City Councillor says there have been concerns raised in recent about homeless people loitering at Hillside Cemetery on Notre Dame Drive.
Speaking during Tuesday’s council meeting, Mike O’Reilly says he had raised that as a possible issue during a tour of the new Merit Place shelter in the former Greyhound bus station, located across the street from the cemetery.
“I flagged that specifically to CMHA and to our staff that the cemetery is essentially a very nice manicured and green area,” O’Reilly said. “There have been some complaints of people frequenting the cemetery on Hillside and I’m wondering what protocols we have in place to keep the cemetery clean and a place to respect and reflect.”
“Obviously, there aren’t BIAs or a chamber or associations that are speaking up for those people. But I would like to just hear what staff has or knows of.”
Responding to that question, Byron McCorkell, the City’s Community and Protective Services Director, said the issues being raised are not necessarily new.
“With the shelter, I think there are more people concerned because they know there is the shelter there but we’ve long dealt with folks using the cemetery for reasons other than to visit their loved ones and things like that,” McCorkell said.
“We have our CSO staff go through on a regular basis. We’ve also identified a conversation with CMHA and their security detail to be aware of anything moving around in the area and we also have park staff working during the day during the facility and if they come upon something, they call the CSOs and we respond.”
McCorkell also told councillors there are cameras in the cemetery monitoring the situation.
Speaking on the NL Morning News Thursday, O’Reilly too noted the issue isn’t new, noting issues of loitering isn’t just limited to Hillside Cemetery but also the Old Men’s cemetery on 6th Avenue, Pioneer Cemetery, and the Chinese Heritage Cemetery, just west of downtown.
“It really hasn’t gotten worse than it has any any other point, but it is just easier to pinpoint and go ‘oh, we think it is because of X,'” O’Reilly said. “Obviously, Memorial Arena was downtown, sandwiched between the Old Men’s Cemetery and the Pioneer Cemetery [and we noticed issues there.]”
“There are always hotspots and we try and go after them but it will pop up somewhere else as it always does.”