Charlottetown plans response team for encampments set up by unhoused residents
'We're certainly going to be engaged with all parties'
Charlottetown is in the early stages of forming a group to deal with impromptu tent cities, but who will be in that group or how it might respond has yet to be decided.
City councillors unanimously passed a resolution to support the creation of a city-led response team at their meeting Monday evening.
"We're trying to be proactive instead of reactive," said Coun. Kevin Ramsay, who chairs the city's protective and emergency services committee.
It's unclear what some of the wording in the resolution means. It states the team would be put together to "address" encampments. What addressing encampments means will be defined by the terms of reference attached to the resolution, and those have not yet been developed, Ramsay said.
Who will be part of the group and who will be consulted haven't been decided yet either.
"We're certainly going to be engaged with all parties," Ramsay said, without specifying who those parties were.
In December, the city responded to an encampment at the Charlottetown Event Grounds by first removing things such as propane tanks and jerry cans that fire officials said weren't being stored or used safely. Then in January, after a small fire on the site, the city had structures at the encampment dismantled.
Fire safety will be a key focus if and when a group is formed on impromptu encampments, Ramsay said.
"We're trying to keep everybody safe," he said.
"Just saying, 'This is what you can do, this is what you can't do.' Like, you can't have open fires — I'm just using that as an example — or propane tanks or things along that line. It is a safety issue."
Ramsay hasn't heard of any plans to set up large encampments in the city, he said.
"I think they are slowly starting to make that move and were hoping to stop it right at the first because it wasn't a pretty sight last year and it was an unsafe site," Ramsay said of the temporary campsite at the event grounds near the Hillsborough Bridge.
The Park Street Emergency Shelter was set up by the province this past winter to prevent some people from having to sleep in tents. The 50-space facility has been well used, with 44 people staying on average each night through the month of May. In April, the shelter averaged 48 occupants a night.
"Things have been working out all winter. Now, it is going to keep working out? That is the million-dollar question," Ramsay said.
Police see no signs of encampments growing
Charlottetown police have responded to isolated incidents of people sleeping in tents this spring, but haven't seen any large encampments being set up yet, said Brad MacConnell, the city's chief of police.
Most times, there are beds available.— Chief Brad MacConnell
"Our response to that is responding to those calls and making sure they are aware of the services that are being provided — and most times, there are beds available," he said.
MacConnell said he would like to get a daily update from the province on whether any beds are available for overnight shelter.
"We've heard from other parts of the country and decisions from courts that if there are no beds available, then displacing people is not a thing that should be done."
'Unhoused persons' will be consulted eventually
The idea for a response team came from a mayor's forum in May discussing the issue of homelessness in Charlottetown, said Charlottetown Mayor Philip Brown.
"In terms of who we will invite, I am sure we will use the same template that was used for our forum several weeks ago and we will add onto it," Brown said.
Groups such as Charlottetown Mutual Aid, the Native Council of P.E.I. and other advocacy groups were at that meeting. Noone actually unhoused attended, however.
"Going to the second, third phase is to include the unhoused persons," Brown said.
Encampments are everywhere
Encampments aren't just popping up in P.E.I., Charlottetown's mayor noted. They are also happening in small towns across Atlantic Canada.
At a recent conference, for example, Brown said he heard about people sleeping in tents in Amherst, N.S.
"When I look at the unhoused, I don't see a tent as solving the issue. It has to be a fixed-roof structure," Brown said.
"We need more social housing."
In about five weeks, the city plans to reveal a rapid housing incentive it has been working on along with provincial partners, Brown said.
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