Saskatoon council approves province's application for emergency shelter despite neighbourhood outrage

Saskatoon city council passed a motion Wednesday afternoon to allow a temporary emergency shelter to operate in the Mayfair neighbourhood for 18 months, despite outcry from home and business owners in the area.

Earlier this month, Saskatchewan applied to the city for permission to run a 15-bed emergency shelter at a former SLGA liquor store on Idylwyld Drive North and 38th Street West for 18 months, the maximum time possible for a temporary shelter under city bylaws. The province could have run the shelter for six months without approval, but wanted to do it for the longer timeframe.

The province already owns the site and has done preliminary work in the building.

The shelter is meant as a short-term place for police to bring people with complex needs who are intoxicated and acting in a way that might be dangerous to themselves or others.

At Wednesday's city council meeting, people from the area said they support helping people facing homelessness, but are worried about the potential for an increase of crime in their neighbourhood.

"The area is already prone to heavy crime, vandalism, break-ins. There's a lot of drug use, needles behind our building," said Jennifer Shire, who owns a business a block away from the proposed location.

All councillors voted in favour of the motion aside from Ward 1 Coun. Darren Hill, who represents the area where the shelter will be.

Shire, along with other business owners and residents, sent in letters to council and took to the stand at the meeting. Some made suggestions for how it should operate and others asked for their safety to be taken seriously.

The most common concern was with the discharge process. People said they don't want anyone loitering around their businesses or homes.

"The addition of a complex needs shelter, without being able to answer how the discharge procedure is going to be handled, it's not the area for it," said Shire.

Provincial officials at the meeting assured the community that, after the 24-hour maximum people would stay at the shelter, they would be discharged and driven to another shelter or organization that could provide additional support.

However, the province clarified that everything will be handled on a case-by-case basis and that it can't force anyone to seek additional help after they are discharged.

"I can't control the movement of people outside of this," said Chad Ryan from the Ministry of Social Services. "We're referring people to the supports and services within the City of Saskatoon that are offered here and we're driving them to the destination."

Erin Neufeld lives and works a few blocks away from the proposed site. She said she is concerned about the safety of her teenage children, who also work in the area.

"Should [shelter users] choose not to accept the transportation offers, they're just going to be released into our community," Neufeld said.

People also complained about how quickly the site proposal has gone through. They received a letter detailing the shelter one week ago.

A city report outlines the possibility for the province to make the location permanent, if it met bylaw requirements.

The emergency shelter is one of two being funded by the province so far as part of $90-million in funding to address homelessness in Saskatchewan. The other is set to be located in Regina.

The debate at council followed a report from the Saskatoon Board of Police Commissioners outlining a lack of supports or shelters available for people with complex needs.

"As long as we say not in my backyard, not in my community, not in my street, none of us are going to get anywhere in terms of trying to resolve the matter overall," said Ward 6 Coun. Cynthia Block at Wednesday's meeting.

"I hope you don't feel it's just your neighbourhood. It's going to be all of us together."