Why having certain parks for unhoused people in Halifax ‘misses the point,’ expert says
Global News
Halifax council could vote Tuesday on recommendations from a staff report on homelessness, including one to designate parks where unhoused people can stay.
A university professor who has focused much of his career on working with unhoused people has “mixed feelings” about a Halifax council staff report recommending that some outside spaces be designated for sheltering.
The report, which is expected to come before council Tuesday, suggests 16 possible spaces, mostly parks, across the municipality where people experiencing homelessness would be able to shelter in tents.
Eleven of them would be for “overnight” stays – where people are only allowed to stay between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. – while the remaining five would allow people to stay longer-term.
Jeff Karabanow, a professor at Dalhousie University and a co-director of Dalhousie’s social work community clinic, said the report “misses the point” when it comes to using the resources available to create better, immediate housing options.
“I just don’t know why they wouldn’t mobilize all that energy and resources to something that’s more sustainable and dignified,” he said.
“I think it’s sad that we are considering an option of tenting in parks as an interim intervention for the lack of housing that exists in this city.”
The report was prepared after a six-week reassessment of the city’s approach to homelessness and encampments.
It also comes before council just more than a week after a 65-year-old man was allegedly assaulted by a man staying at a crisis shelter built by the group Halifax Mutual Aid in Dartmouth’s Starr Park.