Having so many seasonal workers hanging out on Osoyoos’s beaches and in the town’s parks won’t look good to visiting tourists, he said. (Mayor Stu Wells)
“It’s certainly a major issue, we’re a resort municipality,” Wells said. “The optics certainly aren’t good.”
He said the Town can’t be responsible on its own for dealing with the need for accommodations for the workers, adding other government ministries, the Regional District Okanagan-Similkameen and the local agricultural community need to come forward to deal with the issue.
Staff Sgt. Kurt Lozinski, commander of the Osoyoos-Oliver RCMP, said roughly 160 “predominantly French Canadian seasonal workers” displaced from French Hill spent the evening of June 29 on Gyro Beach.
“This circumstance has caused significant concern for the Community of Osoyoos and the Osoyoos Bylaw agents,” Lozinski said. - quoted from Osoyoos Times
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25 representatives of four levels of government met in Osoyoos Thursday to discuss farm labour accomodation and problems caused by an influx of young people who find difficulty securing a place to live and eat – meeting basic health standards. The problem in Osoyoos came to a head where a campsite at Strawberry Creek and nearby ’French Hill’ were closed down by the Forest Ministry for presenting a potential fire hazard. Mayor Stu Wells has been vocal in asking for help to solve the problem that is having a serious affect on Osoyoos as a tourist destination. Two problems were tackled – a new location for a farm worker campsite in rural Osoyoos and how to communicate a number of messages to incoming pickers. The RDOS area ‘A’ director Mark Pendergraft will look into sites and proper criteria for selecting such a location and the BCFGA’s Joe Sardinha will look into utilizing the association’s outreach services to better communicate through the internet and farm labour offices. That communication would include, when to come, where to stay, where to find work and community expectations of respect.
