Summerside homeless advocacy group looking for homes for tents
CBC
A volunteer group in Summerside is still looking for places to set up tents it has purchased to provide some shelter for homeless people in the city.
Summerside has no low-barrier emergency shelter. The city's only emergency shelter is LifeHouse, a shelter and transitional housing for women and children. The P.E.I. government plans to open a new 10-bed shelter in April.
The non-profit group The Village says it is assisting about 35 homeless people in the city. As part of that effort it has purchased 26 ice-fishing tents, each suitable for two people, but they have been unable to find a place for all of them.
"We have seven set up in private yards from kind community members," said executive director Elysha Whitlock.
"We are still struggling to find one parcel of land to essentially set up a group of tents, but we have had some very kind and caring community members step forward and offer up their yards."
The group previously had three offers for properties, but two of those were withdrawn when neighbours expressed concern. The third is now requiring a 24/7 security presence, which the group cannot afford.
The Village is still holding out hope that the tents could be set up on a single site somewhere, said Whitlock. The other option is that 19 other homeowners step forward to allow a tent in their yards.
The city has been supportive of The Village's work, said Whitlock, but has not gotten behind the idea of a tent encampment.
"They are fighting alongside of us for housing, they are fighting alongside of us for our new emergency shelter," she said.
"They do not technically support us setting up a tent encampment."
Summerside Mayor Dan Kutcher said the idea of a tent encampment is complicated.
"This is all pretty new, in terms of having tents in backyards," said Kutcher.
"I don't think anybody should really be living in a tent, whether it's in the woods or in someone's backyard. We want to make sure people have the shelter and supports that go with that shelter."
It is impossible to say how the city would respond to a tent encampment without knowing the details of it, he said, adding there is a growing body of case law in Canada that recognizes shelter as a charter right, and if the only option is tents then people have a right to those tents.
An Alberta government pledge to bring the position of “triage liaison physicians” back to some emergency rooms could help ensure sick patients are better prioritized, some doctors say.
City staff have removed nearly all homeless encampments within 50 metres of schools, daycares and playgrounds in Toronto, a senior official says.
A former human resources employee at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is suing the national broadcaster, alleging he was "subjected to a toxic working environment" while working in the Yellowknife bureau.
The federal government reached what Prime Minister Mark Carney is calling a "landmark" agreement with China on Friday.
The lawyer for a P.E.I. teacher accused of sexual assault has asked the judge to acquit her client based on a lack of evidence presented by the Crown.
One of two indoor arenas in Whitehorse is out of commission indefinitely because of a buildup of heavy snow on the building's roof.
In the wake of a backlash sparked by a viral video, WestJet has cancelled a new seat configuration that squeezed an extra row on board many of its planes and left passengers with less legroom.
Londoners without a place to sleep at night and the outreach workers who help them are urging the city to reconsider its emergency winter response plan after a night of frigid temperatures and ongoing snow squalls.
A recent string of crimes targeting businesses in Bridgeland has owners in the community on edge and seeking solutions.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford isn’t mincing words about Canada’s new electric vehicle deal with China, saying Friday that Chinese manufacturers are gaining a foothold in the country’s auto market at the expense of workers in this country.
An assistant professor at Memorial University's Grenfell Campus hopes the loss of its own vice-president won't mean the end of autonomy at the west coast campus.
Amanda Nahwegahbow, 38, is being remembered by her family as a vibrant and resilient woman who could light up any room.
As Nova Scotia bucks a national trend of declining rent prices, the province’s housing minister said he's hopeful that work to stimulate more construction will lead to improvements.