'Long overdue': Winnipeg outreach organizations weigh in on Manitoba's new homeless encampment strategy

Manitoba's new strategy to move people out of encampments and into housing is getting a warm reception from some Winnipeg organizations on the front lines of the city's fight against homelessness.

Premier Wab Kinew unveiled the plan on Tuesday, with the province slated to spend $20 million over the next two years as it works to buy up apartment buildings it intends to turn into 300 social housing units.

St. Boniface Street Links executive director Marion Willis said the announcement is a "turning point" in the fight to end homelessness, adding that the strategy is "long overdue."

"I've sounded like a broken record over the years saying we need a plan … that recognizes the interrelatedness and the interdependence of all government departments to come together to address this," Willis told Up to Speed host Faith Fundal in an interview Tuesday afternoon. "I think that's exactly what we have here."

Willis added that the plan's success will depend on two factors: The willingness of people to quit the encampments, and how quick the province can come up with the necessary housing units.

"I would think in the first six to eight months, we're all going to understand what's working, what's not working," she said. "Hopefully, we can work together to fix any deficiencies."

Main Street Project, another organization providing front-line supports for those who're experiencing homelessness, said in a statement it was also pleased with the plan, as well as the appointment of former Siloam Mission CEO Tessa Blaikie Whitecloud to lead the efforts.

"We are also very pleased to hear about investments in the outreach and casework supports needed to help
move people from encampments in a good way, and to support them so they are successful in their housing," the statement said.

But at least one advocate says the strategy leaves a lot to be desired.

LISTEN | St. Boniface Street Links on Manitoba's homeless encampment strategy:

Up To Speed10:37Provincial government unveils strategy to end homelessness. We hear reaction from Marion Willis of St. Boniface Street Links

The province has announced their strategy to end homelessness by 2031. For reaction, Faith Fundal was joined by Marion Willis. She's the Executive Director of St. Boniface Street Links.

Manitoba 'not anywhere close' to meet public housing demand: advocate 

The province said it plans to free up Manitoba Housing spaces for people in the encampments by convincing tenants "best positioned to succeed" to move out, providing them with rent supports for new accommodations in the private rental market. 

Prof. Shauna MacKinnon said trying to get people out of public housing to make room for others is problematic, and that the move shows Manitoba simply doesn't have enough of it to meet the demand.

The University of Winnipeg urban studies professor and member of the Right to Housing Coalition said incentives for the private sector are an ineffective way of creating low-income housing, as shown by the national housing strategy.

Last fall, the coalition said only 253 out of the 2,000 new housing units built in Manitoba as part of the federal strategy — announced in 2017 — were geared toward renters with the lowest incomes.

"You're not going to … resolve homelessness by … moving people who are already vulnerable out of public housing into this sort of supply of housing that we know doesn't exist," MacKinnon said.

"We've been doing research for many, many years on this. We've been pretty clear that what we need is 10,000 new units of social housing.… They're not anywhere close to getting at that."

PCs raise questions about wraparound supports

The province and the City of Winnipeg will move people into housing one encampment at the time, with each transition set to take 30 days from the time the encampment is selected.

The province said those moving will receive wraparound supports throughout that period and a case worker will be assigned to them at least two years afterwards.

Manitoba's Official Opposition said the government hasn't provided enough details as to how that would actually work.

"Are they going to be funding extra support workers?" Carrie Hiebert, homelessness and housing critic for the Progressive Conservatives, said Tuesday.

"We need wraparound services for all these people that are going to be housed. Mental health is a big concern. Addictions is a big concern. This is something that we need to really focus on."

Caryn Birch, interim executive director for Resource Assistance for Youth, said most young people she works with are in the "hidden homelessness" demographic, where they don't have a fixed address but rather couch-surf or are otherwise able to find places to stay temporarily.

But she said the call for more wraparound supports is a "big deal."

"The fact that … this holistic approach is being considered is excellent," Birch said.

"Change can be really hard for folks. And I'm really glad that the government is thinking about all of those pieces of the puzzle."