Friday, March 29, 2024

Purchase of Victoria hotel to house homeless featured on popular game show Jeopardy!

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The BC Government’s purchase of the Comfort Inn Hotel in Victoria was recently featured as a question on the popular game show Jeopardy!

Under the category ‘Some Good News’, the $200 option read: “In 2020 this Canadian province purchased a hotel in the capital of Victoria to house its homeless population”. 

Attorney General David Eby, a minister responsible for housing and homelessness in British Columbia, shared the game show clip on Twitter. 

In May 2020, the provincial government purchased Victoria’s Comfort Inn Hotel for $18.5 million. The hotel’s 65 rooms would be used as short term, temporary accommodations to assist those experiencing homelessness and help move campers out of city parks.

The initiative also aimed to provide wraparound support for residents of Topaz Park such as case management, counseling and crisis care and outreach.

The hotel rooms would be temporary, allowing residents to utilize the spaces for up to six months before transitioning to more permanent, supportive housing options. 

Since this initiative began, the BC government has purchased hundreds of additional, empty hotel rooms to temporarily house more homeless residents. 

Although the Jeopardy! category was “Some Good News” the game show question was met with heavy criticism.

While some Victoria residents saw this as a positive move to help the local homeless community, others argued the BC government has not yet done enough for the vulnerable population.

Some viewers also commented that the Jeopardy! Question was ‘tone deaf’. 

If you’re wondering, the Jeopardy! contestant answered the question correctly. 

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