No arrests of homeless during cold snaps: B.C. minister

B.C. Housing Minister Rich Coleman acknowledged Monday that a proposed law could give police the power to take homeless people to emergency shelters during extremely cold weather but said they won't be forced to sleep inside or put in jail if they refuse to go.

The minister was responding to claims by the B.C. Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) on Monday that the government was drafting the law in order to allow police to clear homeless people off the streets of Vancouver during the Olympic Games in February 2010.

The BCCLA had released leaked government notes that appear to show the government was drafting legislation that would allow police to detain people who refused to stay indoors during cold weather.

Both the BCCLA and some members of the government expressed concern that the measures would violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

No force

On Monday, Coleman said the law would not be used to force anyone into a shelter or jail if they refuse to take shelter voluntarily during unseasonably cold weather.

"There is no movement to say we're going to take them to jail, no movement to say we're going to put them in a secure facility," said Coleman.

"It is just to, say, give one more tool to police and to the emergency-care workers to say, 'You know what? We have an individual here — it's cold, it's 20-below, 30-below-zero — who could die tonight,'" said Coleman.

But NDP Housing and Social Development critic Shane Simpson remained skeptical, saying the leaked documents do not support the minister's explanation.

"These documents talk about forcing people. They talk about incarcerating people if they don't do this,' said Simpson.