Halifax council defeats mayor's ask to cut list of possible homeless sites
Councillors say move would be premature and 'meaningless'
Halifax council will keep a list of possible sites to use for homeless encampments if needed, with some saying the new mayor's request to scrap the list was premature and "meaningless."
On Tuesday, Halifax council narrowly defeated a motion from Mayor Andy Fillmore to retract a list of nine possible sites and take away power from the chief administrative officer to open them as needed.
Fillmore had campaigned on not opening more sites and eventually phasing out the current ones. During the meeting, he said the encampments are not healthy for people in or around them, and the list wasn't needed because there are vacancies at indoor shelters and more options coming soon.
After the vote, Fillmore said he was disappointed because creating designated sites is only "undermining the work of the provincial government."
"I believe that the worst of the housing crisis in HRM is behind us, and it's only going to get better," Fillmore told reporters.
CAO Cathie O'Toole said Tuesday that over the next three months, the province expects to open the final 85 temporary Pallet shelters near Burnside and in Clayton Park, about 29 supportive tiny homes in Lower Sackville, and more than 20 other temporary housing units. She said a new winter shelter offering 50 beds is also being considered.
But multiple councillors said people sleeping rough often have complex health needs and might not be the right fit for those options. City staff have spoken about the need for a shelter in Halifax where people dealing with addictions can stay and be supported even if intoxicated.
"The way we get to no designated sites is there's enough space for everybody to meet their needs," said Coun. Sam Austin.
Two of the nine sites on the list, Dartmouth's Geary Street green space and Cogswell Park in Halifax, already opened this summer.
Coun. Virginia Hinch, who represents Halifax Peninsula North, said she's heard concerns about possible criminal activity in Cogswell Park, and asked about safety issues there.
Coun. Trish Purdy said she's had neighbours of designated sites tell her they don't feel their concerns are heard by councillors or police.
"They feel like they have been ignored with the criminality, with the threats, with the filth," Purdy said.
Municipal staff said they are always in touch with police, and could consider adding a dedicated officer to a site if it's needed for the safety of people in or around an encampment.
O'Toole said if the list was removed, she would still come back to council with suggestions to open new locations if needed — and they would be the same sites on the list.
Coun. Shawn Cleary said given this, the move wouldn't change anything for people in encampments or surrounding them.
"Virtue signalling is something you could use to describe this, but really it's meaningless. It is like the apex of meaningless," Cleary said.
Coun. Jean St-Amand said it made more sense to keep a plan in place.
"This, to me, is akin to having an urgent need for first aid, and hiding the first aid kit to have a meeting on whether or not the first aid kit is needed in the first place before you can actually provide help," St-Amand said.
"We are not saying that we intend to use them, we just want to have the option."
More than 1,200 people need housing in Halifax
As of October, the city estimated there were more than 100 people sleeping rough in the five designated sites and various undesignated locations around the city. There were 1,268 people on the overall list tracking people in need of housing as of Nov. 27.
The provincial Department of Community Services said Tuesday there are six community-based organizations providing 399 shelter beds at nine sites across the municipality. Last month, 665 people accessed those beds.
"Though capacity fluctuates daily, service providers consistently report levels well over 90 per cent, and often higher, across the system — shelters, transitional housing, and supportive housing," the department said in an emailed statement.
The department added that "hundreds more shelter and supportive housing units" would be opening over the next two months in HRM.
Public housing priority list
City staff said communal shelter options like the Halifax Forum or Metro Turning Point are well used and often nearly full. Those shelters reported seeing people losing their homes every week.
Council also heard that people sleeping rough in Halifax are not prioritized over other people dealing with homelessness for public housing. The province has a priority list that includes those leaving domestic violence situations, experiencing homelessness, or living in inadequate housing. There were 117 people from across Nova Scotia on that list as of January.
A spokesperson for the Nova Scotia Provincial Housing Agency told CBC News that people who are homeless are added to the priority waitlist "in chronological order," on a first-come, first-served basis.
Bill Moore, HRM director of community safety, said he was with provincial staff when they were discussing a change to get people in substandard housing moved to the top of that list.
"I asked if someone living in a tent was … eligible to be able to be moved to the top, and I was told no," Moore said.
Council defeated Fillmore's motion with a vote of eight to seven.
Although Fillmore said it seems returning councillors wanted to stick to previous council decisions, "the facts will bear out that we can move away from encampments quickly" in the coming months.
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