New housing minister Myers stands firm on Charlottetown Outreach Centre: 'It's not moving'
City councillors will have to OK extensions to variances to keep services on Park Street
Steven Myers, who has been Prince Edward Island's housing minister for just over a month, says the Community Outreach Centre will remain at its current location on Charlottetown's Park Street whether city councillors like it or not.
"It is not moving, and that's the end of the story," he said in an interview with CBC News after the topic came up in the legislature Tuesday, providing him with the first public chance to weigh in on the matter since he was shuffled from the Environment portfolio to Housing, Land and Communities on Oct. 9.
"Where else can it go? I mean, it's winter. It can't go anywhere else. I think the City of Charlottetown knows this too."
The province provides funding to a third party to run the centre, located near the emergency overnight housing shelter made up of modular housing units on Park Street. But provincial officials had to get zoning variances from the city to operate those two services at that location.
Without an extension, the variance allowing the outreach centre to operate at Park Street will expire in March, while the variance for the emergency shelter is set to expire next month.
Last summer, the province said it would not have time to move either facility before those deadlines, and asked for indefinite extensions for both.
The city hasn't voted on that. The original vote last January to allow the outreach centre to move to Park Street ended in a tie broken by the mayor, with wording built into the resolution saying there would be no extensions.
In October, Charlottetown councillors voted to have the matter go to a public meeting, which council said is the next step in the process.
After Myers made his remarks about the outreach centre in the legislature Tuesday afternoon, Coun. Mitch Tweel tried to raise the issue at a Charlottetown council meeting Tuesday night, but was told it would not be discussed at this time.
However, a notice of motion was filed by Coun. Justin Muttart for Tuesday's council meeting, asking council to postpone a public meeting until late January to allow residents more time to prepare.
We've dehumanized people who are in the middle of this, and this bantering and silliness with the City of Charlottetown, I'm not going to be a party to. It's going to stay there.— Steven Myers, housing minister
But Myers was adamant that the services would stay where they are, saying the province is "shouldering the load" on what should be a municipal responsibility.
"You go to any other city in Canada, the city's dealing with it — except for Charlottetown, where they don't seem to feel like they're responsible for dealing with this.
"I think part of the thing that bothers me most about this is we've dehumanized people who are in the middle of this, and this bantering and silliness with the City of Charlottetown, I'm not going to be a party to. It's going to stay there. They're going to have to make the right decision...
"This isn't a political football between two levels of government. These are real people with real lives."
CBC News asked a spokesperson for city hall what would happen if council hasn't made a decision on the matter when the variance for the emergency shelter expires next month.
"Since there are vulnerable populations affected by this process, the city wants to work with the province and within our bylaws to help the shelter provide much-needed services until the process is completed with a final decision," he replied by email.
With files from Kerry Campbell and Tony Davis