Minister defends support for homeless after criticism

Community groups say province far behind other areas of country

Minister of Social Services Paul Merriman is pushing back against criticism that the province has not done enough to protect homeless people during the COVID -19 pandemic.

For weeks, community organizations in Saskatoon have urged the province to allocate more money to support emergency shelters and housing for homeless people, who are considered especially susceptible to an outbreak of the virus.

Merriman argued the ministry’s investments, while not as large as some other jurisdictions in Canada, have been effective in helping shelters and clients.

“There’s no playbook on dealing with a pandemic,” he said. “We’ve made sure the investments we’ve done within social services are very focused and not generalized.”

The social services pandemic plan announced on March 31 included a one-time, $171,000 payment to be divided among 10 shelters in the province, which agencies have noted is much smaller than jurisdictions like Alberta, which earmarked $30 million for women’s and homeless shelters.

“When we look at the level of investment that’s been made for the homeless population in Saskatchewan, we’re behind the rest of the country,” AIDS Saskatoon executive director Jason Mercredi said. “And we’re not just behind them by a little bit. We’re behind them by a lot.”

Merriman said he speaks with community organizations in Saskatoon and Regina as well as shelters across the province on a weekly basis. He said thus far the province has done an “excellent” job in meeting their needs. The ministry’s program of providing temporary hotel stays for people with COVID -19 symptoms has also helped offset pressure, he said.

“I think the greatest concern that I’ve heard from the shelters was a concern with being inundated with lots of clients,” Merriman said.

Shelters have still asked Merriman to consider a new guaranteed funding model, arguing that the current model is too precarious.

Shelters that have contracts with the provincial government get half that money up front; the rest is paid on a per diem basis.

Merriman defended this model, saying it avoids paying for shelter beds that aren’t filled.

“It’s very difficult for me to justify paying for spaces that people aren’t there,” he said. “We want to make sure we’re being very efficient with the dollars that we do have.”

Shelter operators, like The Lighthouse’s Don Windels, noted not every shelter occupant is paid for.

Someone who has an address but may have to stay in the Lighthouse for a night may not be eligible for the shelter benefit — which means the shelter isn’t paid by the ministry to house them, Windels said.

He thinks the pandemic presents a chance for a larger conversation about how to transition clients from shelters to more permanent lodgings. “I think there’s a bigger issue kind of at play here, and that is core funding.”

OFF THE STREETS

Mercredi and his peers argue people would be safest in permanent housing

Social Services has launched a pilot program allocating 26 fully furnished units — 10 each in Regina and Saskatoon and three each in North Battleford and Prince Albert — as “emergency overflow” for shelters. Frontline agencies argue there are too few to be useful.

“We could have those filled this week. What happens then?” asked Saskatchewan Housing Initiatives Partnership executive director Lyn Brown.

Brown and Mercredi said the announcement was especially confusing because Merriman said on March 31 that there were 2,900 “chronically vacant” Saskatchewan Housing Corporation units in the province, including 350 in Saskatoon.

Merriman said housing stock is not the issue, but that units have to be furnished in a way that is tailored to a client’s needs before they’re usable.

Mercredi said that wasn’t communicated properly to front line groups, who often provide those supports.

So far, he said, the ministry has not provided any direct funding to help those groups meet those needs. He argued it’s not ideal that units are sitting empty while people need housing.

“This plan wasn’t the community’s plan — it’s what was announced by the provincial government,” Mercredi said. “So if it’s not