Four city councillors want Regina to declare 'houselessness emergency'; want action before winter
CBC
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 houselessness 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."
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.
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