Province to act on report advising spread-out services to better serve P.E.I.'s homeless
CBC
The P.E.I. government says it's ready to move forward on recommendations on how to best support Islanders experiencing homelessness.
Carlene Donnelly, who was brought on as a special adviser to former premier Dennis King to help develop a "client-centred" model of care for those facing homelessness, recently submitted her final report.
Her primary recommendation is a plan to decentralize services, particularly to reach rural areas often left out of traditional support models.
This "distributed model" would shift away from central hubs and instead expand services through community-based efforts Island-wide.
"I think that's the model to go," Donnelly told CBC News: Compass host Louise Martin.
"It's more feasible to scale to rural P.E.I. — that's always been on our radar. I know it seems sometimes like we're focusing on Charlottetown and Summerside and other communities, but really it's the whole Island that we're focusing on."
The report outlines several benefits to decentralizing services, including:
Over the past few years, Donnelly said, the province has done some good groundwork that can support this shift. That's not only in terms of health, mental health and addictions services, but also housing, she said, pointing to the government's housing-first approach.
The P.E.I. government is in the early stages of its five-year plan, released in 2024, aimed at increasing the province's housing supply and addressing the ongoing housing crisis. The strategy takes a housing-first approach to people dealing with homelessness, focusing on transitional and supportive housing.
"Although we have more to do, a lot has been done," Donnelly said.
Donnelly noted that a distributed model doesn't mean facilities in urban areas, like the Community Outreach Centre in Charlottetown, will be moved.
That centre, along with an emergency overnight shelter, both located at 15 Park Street in the city's southeast end, has been at the centre of debate between the province and the City of Charlottetown.
Back in March, Charlottetown councillors voted to reject the province's request for a zoning change that would have allowed the shelter and outreach centre to remain on Park Street.
Two days later, Housing Minister Steven Myers said that vote didn't matter: The province would set up a special planning zone in the area that would allow both operations to stay in place, effectively overriding council's decision.
Timothy Smith was acting in self-defence when he punched Landon Waddell, and shouldn't be found guilty of manslaughter, his lawyer says.
Thoroughbred horse racing at Vancouver’s Hastings Racecourse is ending after more than a century, with the operator announcing Friday it will no longer run a racing season at the historic facility.
A memorial to remember lives lost to gender-based violence was held in Charlottetown Friday, ahead of the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, which is marked annually on Dec. 6.
A Calgary dentist who defrauded five insurance companies over a decade should spend up to three years in prison, the prosecution argued Friday.
B.C. Conservation Officer Service says it has called off its search for a bear responsible for an attack on a group of school children in Bella Coola, B.C. on Nov. 20.
The union president called it a rally for solidarity as Iqaluit Housing Authority employees gathered Friday while negotiations are ongoing between the Nunavut Employees Union and the employer.
The federal government is stoking Quebec separatism by walking back its climate commitments — including in its recent deal with Alberta — Liberal MP and former cabinet minister Steven Guilbeault says.
Four more Alberta MLAs are facing recall petitions organized by their constituents, including the first NDP representative to be caught in the province's ongoing wave of recall efforts.
Frank Gehry, the Canadian-born renegade architect behind some of the world's most recognizable buildings, has died at 96.
Hundreds of P.E.I. parents can't find child-care spaces, especially for infants. The provincial government says expanding those spots remains a top priority — and it recognizes the concern.
An Alberta judge says a referendum proposal on Alberta separating from Canada goes against Charter and and Treaty rights, in a decision given less than 24 hours after the provincial government introduced legislation that would have ended the court proceeding.
The architect of Alberta's politician recall legislation says it was never meant to be used as a political weapon, but as an "ultimate tool of accountability" if a politician engages in illegal or unethical behaviour.
The Government of Saskatchewan has introduced its long-promised involuntary treatment legislation on the final day of the fall sitting.