People living in tents, cars highlight need for Three Rivers emergency shelter, says MLA

Montague-Kilmuir MLA Cory Deagle has defined his short career in politics thus far as a constituency politician, advocating for the needs of his home community. But he never imagined one of those needs might turn out to be a homeless shelter.

"When we think of homelessness on PEI, we often think that it only exists in the larger urban centres, such as Charlottetown or Summerside," Deagle said Tuesday during question period.

But Deagle said earlier in the day he was advised by staff at the local food bank that there are people "actually living in their car in Montague, in tents in the woods, but you just wouldn't be aware. You can't see them, perhaps, when you're on the road.

"I was kind of taken aback by it, and I didn't realize how much of an issue it actually is."

Deagle later told CBC he thinks there could be about a dozen such people, and that be believes the problem is getting worse because of the shortage of available housing and the increasing costs.

"The price to own a home, even to rent, we're talking in most cases over $1,000 a month which is just unaffordable for a significant number of people," said Deagle. 

"And not only can they not afford it, but there's no units to rent, so unfortunately people get squeezed out and they end up on the street."

Convert former manor into shelter

Deagle is proposing turning the former provincial manor in Montague into an emergency shelter, something he said has been talked about in the community.

Residents from the old manor moved into a new replacement building in 2019. Recently the old building has been used for COVID vaccinations and is designated as a patient overflow location in the event of an outbreak, which hasn't happened.

"If we have the building sitting empty, and we have people  that are sleeping in their cars, why can't we give them one of the beds that's in this building to get them off the street?" said Deagle.

"It's a no-brainer to me."

Homeless numbers rise in latest count

Homeless numbers in P.E.I. were up significantly in the latest count conducted by the John Howard Society, a document tabled in the legislature Tuesday by the Minister of Social Development and Housing Brad Trivers.

In April the society conducted the latest in a series of "snapshots" focusing in on the number of people experiencing some level of homelessness at a particular point in time.

In its report the group said the number is at minimum 147 people, which would represent a 71 per cent increase compared with the previous count in 2018.

Among those 147 people were four who were identified as being unsheltered. Among the rest:

• 52 per cent were staying in transitional housing
• 18 per cent were in an emergency shelter
• 13 per cent were staying in a facility, including a jail or hospital
• 17 per cent were considered "hidden homeless" (staying with a friend, couch-surfing)

Overall, 52 per cent who responded to a survey said they had issues with mental health and addictions which led to their homelessness.

Province books hotel when needed, says minister

In response to Deagle's questions, Trivers urged all MLAs, if they have constituents in need of emergency shelter, to call the province's emergency shelter line, which can be accessed by dialing 211.

"When someone does request emergency shelter, we work with the individuals on a case-by-case basis and we do our best to keep them in the community if they need that," said Trivers. He said that's done even if the community in question — Three Rivers in this case — has no emergency shelter. 

"That may be renting accommodations for them at a local hotel or motel, but it's an area we continue to improve on," Trivers said.

Figures provided by the province show the emergency shelter line received an average of 34 calls per month from April to July of 2021. The vast majority of those calls were from clients in Queens County.

Trivers pledged to work with Deagle to explore the idea of converting the former Riverview Manor, starting with a community needs assessment, but noted that "we don't actually have many people, very few, in fact, that are calling the emergency shelter line from Kings County."

Afterward Deagle said there's no point in studying whether Three Rivers needs an emergency shelter.

"The need is there," he said. "What do we say, that there have to be 10 people who are homeless before we step in and have a place for them to stay at night?"

"I don't know how people get by living in a tent with this weather right now … If we have a centre such as the old manor that can house them overnight, why leave it sitting empty? Let's give them a place to sleep."