Advocates for homeless in Fredericton want designated tent cities

The founder of Fredericton's River Stone Recovery Centre would like to see the city set up a designated tent city for homeless people.

Until there are more permanent housing options for the city's homeless population, Dr. Sara Davidson said it's the best "quick-fix" scenario. 

But it needs to happen fast, she said. 

"At this moment, right now — this year, this week — this is what I feel is the best solution."

Davidson said it's important to view this as a temporary, emergency approach to Fredericton's homeless problem.  

"I would never want there to be a permanent tent city because that would mean that we have completely failed our population of the most vulnerable people."

With a nimble environment and big hearts on board, I'm hoping that this could get some legs and start to take off soon.- Dr. Sara Davidson

She said it's certainly better than what currently exists. 

A designated tent city would allow officials to keep better track of homeless people. For example, if there was an outbreak of COVID-19 in the city's homeless population, contact tracing would be a lot easier if officials knew where to find people. 

"If we can't find people because they're scattered — they're interacting with each other [and] they don't have the luxury of being able to self isolate anywhere," Davidson told Information Morning Fredericton on Friday.

Last year, with the use of Fredericton High School as a shelter, Davidson said officials at least knew where to look for people. 

The disadvantages of not having a more permanent location goes beyond contact tracing and living in constant fear of being forcibly moved along, she said. 

"People are missing medical appointments. They're missing CT scans I try to organize to track down how their cancer is doing. They're missing their mental health appointments. They're losing their wallets. They're losing access to their medications."

Davidson said the idea for a designated tent city came to her out of "desperation." She said she would lie awake at night and wonder how to best help the city's homeless. 

While there are all kinds of ideas being discussed, she said "we're not going to get there fast enough." People are already sleeping outside in the cold. 

Her conversation on CBC radio was the "first robust" public conversation she's had and she was encouraged by the comments of fellow panelist and Fredericton city councillor, Kate Rogers. 

Rogers, who is part of a national working group, said other cities are contemplating setting up designated tent cities.

"That is a very legitimate option," said Rogers, who also chairs the city's affordable housing committee.

But she's not sure whether the idea will fly in Fredericton, where tents continue to be removed and people continue to lose their belongings. 

"I'm not certain of that. But the discussions have been happening," said Rogers. 

And she's encouraged to see other community leaders, "who maybe would not have thought that was the best option three years ago," consider tent cities as a potential solution. 

Davidson hopes the public discussion will spark some interest in the idea among community groups and leaders.

"I imagine I'll be sending some emails this weekend and trying to continue the conversation to see what steps would need to be taken … With a nimble environment and big hearts on board, I'm hoping that this could get some legs and start to take off soon."

She believes a designated tent city would ultimately save the city "a lot of time and energy" by avoiding the constant dismantling of the sites and moving people along.

Joan Kingston, the chair of Fredericton's Community Action Group on Homelessness, has seen one of Canada's largest tent cities — one located in Vancouver's Strathcona Park, "and it's not ideal," she told Information Morning. 

Last month, the city of Vancouver released a strategy to move homeless people out of the park. 

Officials want to use local hotels as accommodation for the 300 people who were tenting in the city park. No timeline has been presented, but once the campers have been moved out, the camp space will be fenced off for remediation.

The Strathcona location sprang up last June after the city of Vancouver dismantled two other locations.