Protesters speak out about Sally Ann plans
The Salvation Army’s first public consultation about its proposed homeless shelter for Vanier generated noisy opposition inside and outside the Ottawa Conference and Event Centre on Wednesday.
The contrast in approach by the two sides was sharp. Inside the event centre, Salvation Army staff quietly populated 21 professionally prepared stands corresponding to the various programs and services to be offered at the new homeless shelter. For seven hours, starting at 1 p.m., members of the public could pose queries directly to staff about their plans for offering hunger relief, long-term care, life-skill classes, economic spinoffs and spiritual advice.
Outside, but out of earshot, nearly 100 demonstrators chanted their disapproval of building what they call a “mega-shelter” in Vanier. Some protesters were members of SOS Vanier, a local group dedicated to halting the construction of the homeless shelter at 333 Montreal Rd. Others were shuttled to the event centre by Mathieu Fleury, the city councillor for the ward that would encompass the shelter.
“This is not just a not-in-mybackyard issue,” Fleury said. “We’re saying the model of building one big shelter needs to change.”
Fleury contends the proposed shelter’s services could be dispersed through many smaller facilities scattered throughout the city. It’s an approach that might find favour in some quarters in this town because large, complicated projects have a tendency to cost more than expected, take longer than forecast and fail to deliver promised results.
Think Phoenix Pay, Shared Services Canada, the government’s single email system and other equally ambitious attempts to modernize. The advantage of housing Salvation Army services in different facilities is that a single failure doesn’t need to contaminate the entire operation.
Inside the event centre, the biggest group of people was not in front of one of the 21 information stands. Rather, it was in the form of a semi-circle before Marc Provost, executive director of the Salvation Army for the past four years.
He was being challenged by members of the public to explain why Vanier is being asked to bear the entire burden of the Salvation Army’s proposed move from the ByWard Market. Why not spread the services around?
“It’s a good question,” Provost allowed, before explaining about the shelter’s expected efficiencies. “There are significant pros to having a more holistic approach.”
The questioners were persistent. Isn’t Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson just trying to shift the homeless population out of the market so he can boost tourism? And isn’t it true that other charities are also planning moves out to Vanier? Provost deferred the latter question to the charities in question, suggesting he wasn’t aware of such plans in the works. Nor did he presume to speak for the mayor.
It was clear, however, that the Salvation Army on Wednesday was getting pushback from forces outside and inside the event centre.
“The Salvation Army needs to engage people on a regular basis,” Fleury said. “We hope they will reconsider their approach.”