As the Member of Parliament (MP) for Vernon-Lake Country-Monashee, Scott Anderson vows not to stay silent because issues may fall under another level of government.
Standing in front of Vernon city council Monday, July 20, Anderson – who served from 2014 to 2022 as a Vernon councillor before losing the 2022 mayoral election to Victor Cumming – said he’ll speak up when provincial or municipal decisions affect the people he now represents.
And he spoke loud.
Appearing before council as a delegation, Anderson told the city that the issue of the province using Vernon as a testing ground for social policies is “failing spectacularly.”
“The street disorder may have been muted somewhat, but we’re simply warehousing people with severe addictions, and often mental challenges, and somehow expect them to live improved lives because they have a roof over their heads,” said Anderson.
“What’s happening is advertised as housing first, and it’s nothing of the sort. It’s housing only, where people are warehoused and given palliative care until they finally overdose and die.”
Anderson said – though he hadn’t seen firsthand himself, he confessed – he’s heard there are 40-plus “warehouses” in Vernon.
“Warehousing these people with severe addictions without a realistic path to recovery is not compassion. It’s abandonment,” he said. “Likewise, harm reduction that measures successes only by keeping people alive while ignoring the impact on businesses, neighbourhoods, families, and public safety is harm postponement, not harm reduction.”
In his past life as a dump run operator before Ottawa came calling, Anderson said his company made thousands from cleaning up messes created by homeless camps.
“I’m comfortable in saying this issue is a dreg on the private sector in Vernon of about $1 million a year cleaning up these messes,” he said. “That’s a significant hidden cost to businesses piled on top of regulations and taxes that makes it nearly impossible for businesses to get ahead or to even start.”
That drew a rebuttal from Coun. Kelly Fehr, whose day job is executive director of operations at Turning Points Collaborative Society, which operates many housing facilities and programs to assist the homeless.
“I’m not going to debate the pros and cons of harm reduction, but overdose rates are down in B.C. since 2023, and the homelessness rate in Vernon dropped by more than 100 in the last Census,” said Fehr. “To say strategies are not working at all, I don’t know if that would be accurate.”
Anderson concluded his presentation with questions about the historic O’Keefe Ranch. He held the city liaison position with the ranch during his time on council, and Anderson said he’s actively looking at making the ranch a national historical landmark.
“Since I left, council has gone into lockdown (on the ranch),” he said. “There’s been no information. The council liaison (Cumming) has not showed up to many meetings. The board can’t make a long-term plan without some indication of what the city will do when the lease runs out in 2027.
“Will you give it away? Sell it? Ignore it? What’s council’s intentions? People of Vernon deserve a clear answer on this.”
There was no reply from council.
Anderson said at the beginning of his presentation his goal is to come to every municipality in his riding at least once a year to update what he and his office are doing; to ask municipal governments what they’re doing; and to have some input.
“It’s a tremendous honour to represent the riding,” he said. “I will talk to anybody from any political persuasion.”
Elected to Ottawa in 2025, Anderson, a Conservative party member, told council he spends about 200 days in Ottawa, broken up into chunks of two-to-three-week stays at a time, in a rented one-bedroom apartment five blocks from Parliament Hill.
He works 14-to-15-hours every day, and when not in the nation’s capital, Anderson returns to work in the riding.
With that, he introduced his chief of staff locally, Marcy Kennedy, to council
“The roll of the local MP is to support the constituents of the riding, and serve as a direct connection between the constituents and Government of Canada,” said Kennedy.
“We help navigate federal departments and agencies, answer constituents’ questions, and assist when there’s a challenge with federal programs and services.
“Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security, employment insurance, veterans affairs, CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) matters, passports, immigration, or other federal services, we advocate on their behalf and help connect them with the right resources.”
Coun. Kari Gares was a first-hand witness to help received from Anderson’s office.
“I reached out when a client of mine was struggling with a work Visa,” said Gares. “What I can say is I got a hold of you and my client was having conversations with you which helped put their mind at ease.
“It shows your office is truly accessible to all who need it.”