4 city councillors want Regina to declare 'houselessness emergency'; want action before winter

Four Regina city councillors want the city to declare a "houselessness emergency." 

This comes in the wake of tents being torn down in front of Regina city hall in late July. The councillors want to see a plan to address homelessness in next year's city budget. They also want safety guidelines for any new homeless encampments. 

Councillors Dan LeBlanc, Andrew Stevens, Cheryl Stadnichuk and Shanon Zachidniak are behind two notices of motion set to go before council on Wednesday. They want action before winter. 

One of the notices in part zeros in on the city's point-in-time homeless count, which spiked by 110 per cent between 2015 and 2021, according to the proposed motion. That's a sign that all levels of government need to step in with shelter options, especially ahead of wintertime, the councillors said.

They also want the city and community partners to draft a written safety checklist for homeless encampments. They do not want encampments to be torn down unless there's an unwillingness from camp organizers to address reoccurring safety concerns.

They are also looking for financial support and other resources from provincial and federal levels of government, Ward 8 Councillor Zachidniak said.

"We're also wanting to ensure that conversations are happening with folks who've been houseless and also community stakeholders, including organizations that work with folks who have mental health issues and addictions," Zachidniak said. "Because that's been raised as a barrier right now to housing folks.

"We do need to figure out … what are we going to do? Because having people freeze to death in the streets is not an outcome that I'm OK with."

Working with city administration

Zachidniak said the councillors think city administration may already be working on some solutions, so they want them to bring their short- and long-term plans and tent camp safety protocols to council. 

"Then we can discuss those as a council, and community members can come out and tell us if they think it's sufficient or if they see any gaps. So let's just get a plan for discussion at council and then we can tweak it if needed from there."  

As for seeing funds for houselessness in the 2024 budget, Zachidniak said the councillors are not asking for the budget to 'end houselessness' like a previous controversial motion. 

"Now we're asking administration, what do you propose to do? What would be a reasonable way to incorporate it in the budget?"

As for encampment safety, Zachidniak said that addition to the motion came from discussions with camp volunteers, who aren't clear on the safety protocols.

The other notice of motion is about special council meetings. This comes after one about the tent camp was cancelled last minute. The city said it was due to a lack of quorum, but the four councillors argue these meetings should never be cancelled, regardless of how many councillors can attend. 

Help needed from those in positions of power

Former city hall encampment volunteer and community activist Mandla Mthembu said he is encouraged by the notice of motion on houselessness. 

"To hear some counsellors, that are actually in a position of power, kind of siding with the public as far as advocating for this as a crisis was really exciting. Because we know that a lot of people don't feel like taking action until it's stated as such a state of emergency ... or until they're kind of forced to make a decision," Mthembu said.

"We're hoping that this is the kind of pressure that is needed to make the administration and the provincial, federal governments actually take this seriously."

Mthembu said he and other volunteers continue to patrol the streets, checking in on former camp residents and maintaining communication. He said things have been hard since the encampment was torn down, and it's affected his mental health. 

"I've had a really tough time," Mthembu said. "We had more deaths in two weeks amongst the people that we knew from camp than we did for the entire 40 plus days we were there."

He spoke with one of those people the night before she died. 

"She said: 'I love you and I really care about you.' We had a really nice conversation. And then the next day I get a call saying that she's dead and I'll never get to talk to her again."

Mthembu said the councillors motions are important because the houseless are struggling to find a sense of security "amidst powers that [keep] cutting them off at every chance."

The two notices of motion are on Wednesday's council agenda, but will only be discussed if council votes unanimously to move up the debate. The council meeting is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. CST.