Edmonton could maintain small encampments as part of city's strategy, research group says
Natasha Riebe, Janet French | CBC News | Posted: April 11, 2023 11:33 PM | Last Updated: April 11, 2023
Of about 2,840 people experiencing homelessness, nearly 760 people are unsheltered
City of Edmonton administrators say they're aiming to get more people housed more quickly, as part of a two-year enhanced strategy to deal with encampments.
But a research group is proposing a different, bold move: manage and support small-scale camps, led by Indigenous people, while they're transitioning to secure housing.
Marlene Mulder led the research for the non-profit group, MAPS Alberta, and compiled the findings for the city's encampment response team.
Her team interviewed about 120 people since last spring and compiled the findings in a report called "Staying Outside Is Not A Preference: Homelessness in Edmonton."
"They refer to themselves as recyclable people who are moved without a place to go, making them more vulnerable and making it more difficult for them to access help," Mulder said.
She presented the findings to council's community and public services committee Tuesday, suggesting the city help set up organized sites on green spaces with access to support and hygiene.
Jerry McFeeters, who helped with the research, lived in camps for many years and outlined the daily struggle of living outside, which prevents people from getting ahead.
"It's not being able to sleep," he said. "It's not being able to look for all of your food. Run around the city to find out where you have to be at 5 o'clock for this meal, come back and see if your tent is still there."
He said without basic needs, finding a place to rent or a job is a difficult process.
Ward Métis Coun. Ashley Salvador said she thinks Edmontonians are becoming more open to the idea of intentional camps.
"This is something I've heard sort of over and over — this need for a more intentional camp that can act as that bridge between people's current state and that pathway to housing."
But city managers raised red flags about the idea. Jennifer Flaman, the city's manager of community services, emphasized the safety issues related to sizeable camps, like Camp Pekiwewin in Rossdale in 2020 and one in Light Horse Park in Old Strathcona.
"When we concentrate vulnerable folks, we are creating a magnet and a target for gang, disorder, criminality, physical and sexual assault," Flaman noted.
Coun. Aaron Paquette proposed a motion at the meeting, directing city staff to identify partners in creating bridge housing and funding options.
The motion directs administration to include potential transition spaces providing access to clean water, waste disposal, sacred fire, personal storage and transportation to support services.
As the city looks for a group to run an Indigenous-led shelter, Paquette's motion directs administration to include non-traditional locations including outdoors, green spaces or tiny home configurations.
"Chaos in our streets, pain in our streets," Paquette said. "We all lose."
Encampment plan
The city's current plan includes finding housing for 100 people this year. In 2022, an average of 27 people were housed from encampments each month, the city says.
This March, of the 2,843 people experiencing homelessness, 757 people are unsheltered, meaning they frequently sleep outside, the city report says.
Between 2016 and 2022, encampment-related requests for service to 311 increased by 1,075 per cent, from 790 inquiries in 2016 to 9,300 in 2022.
Including housing, street outreach, and cleanup workers, the city employs 70 full-time positions this year, up from 15 in 2016.
Before hearing from the research group, several councillors said the city's strategy doesn't go far enough and is a set of stop-gap measures until the provincial government invests more in supportive housing.
"All Edmontonians are looking at these problems and just flabbergasted," Coun. Paquette said in an interview Monday. "Why are these things allowed to persist and why are they not being solved, especially when we know by solving them, it saves us money, and it saves lives?"
Ward Nakota Isga Coun. Andrew Knack says most circumstances that lead to homelessness, including a lack of supported living units, shelters with limited hours and little storage, and scant mental health support are all provincial jurisdiction.
"It's so frustrating to feel a bit helpless," Knack said in an interview on Monday. "Because no matter how much we do, I know it's not going to be enough right now."
A lawyer with the Criminal Trial Lawyers' Association also told the committee the city could be putting itself at legal risk by pulling down encampments.
Chris Wiebe says courts in B.C., and Ontario have ruled cities breached citizens' charter rights by enforcing bylaws to dismantle encampments when there were more homeless people than shelter spaces in the municipalities.
City administration's report to councillors also notes this potential legal risk.
Wiebe said in a Monday interview lawyers have also seen officers evict residents from encampments with less than the 24-hour notice required by city policy, and have heard that officers have seized property, including propane tanks.
Wiebe said this is an inhumane practice in a city like Edmonton, with brutally cold winters.
"It's an attack on the way people survive in our communities," he said of encampment removals. "It can feel like class warfare."