The Chronicle Herald (Metro)

Homelessne­ss out in the open brilliant move

- GAIL LETHBRIDGE glethbridg­e@herald.ca @giftedtypi­st Gail Lethbridge is a freelance journalist in Halifax.

As social protests go, the strategy of erecting temporary shelters dotting public spaces around Halifax was masterful.

In particular, the “tent city” in front of the vacant building formerly known as the Halifax Memorial Library makes a powerful statement.

It very clearly shows that there are people in this city without homes. And there, right behind the shelters, is a big, empty building just sitting there.

One plus one equals two. It screams problem-solution.

In a city in the midst of a developmen­t boom of highend commercial residentia­l building projects, these rugged shelters and tents speak louder than any one-off demonstrat­ion with people chanting, “Hey, hey, ho ho, homelessne­ss has got to go.”

They also speak louder than any piece of thought leadership designed to get the attention of policy-makers.

Of course, the anonymous group Halifax Mutual Aid which constructe­d these shelters knew what they were doing. They were sending a strong message to leaders.

They have put politician­s on the horns of a dilemma. The optics of forcibly removing homeless people from these shelters would be sickening. This happened in a tent city in Toronto in June.

At the same time, the parks with the tents and shelters are located in public spaces designed for the enjoyment of all residents. Not everyone feels safe going to parks with temporary shelters that violate city bylaws. The mayor and councillor­s will be receiving phone calls from residents who want them removed.

On July 6, Halifax Regional Municipali­ty announced that the shelters would be removed and arrangemen­ts would be made to shelter residents in hotels. The deadline was this week.

HRM Mayor Mike Savage was hoping that residents of these shelters would opt into the city plan. Not all did, and fearing the optics of a mass eviction, Savage backed off on the hard deadline. This was wise.

The options offered by the city to house homeless people in hotels is a temporary solution. It doesn’t address the problem itself.

Meanwhile, there was the announceme­nt this week that the city would be creating 43 affordable housing units using a $13-million federal grant. It is part of the Rapid Housing initiative through which the federal government is spending $700 million to provide safe and affordable housing to Canadians.

It’s not clear if these units will be available to the residents of temporary shelters.

Federal Social Developmen­t Minister Ahmed Hussen made this statement: “People like paramedics and teachers and firefighte­rs and constructi­on workers — we have to make sure those people are not priced out of the city.”

Excuse me? Teachers? The people living in these shelters do not have the salary, benefits and pensions of a teacher. Exactly how many homeless teachers is the minister talking about?

So this program, although worthy, does not address this particular problem.

I expect there will be more federal money available for affordable housing. With a federal election in the near future, the Liberals will be eager to make it look like they care.

Part of the strength of the temporary shelter movement is the focus it puts on empty buildings. The city has been trying to flog the former public library to private developers, but so far no bites.

So, the argument goes, why not use that federal money to redevelop empty buildings as a residentia­l facility for people who are homeless?

There are also other empty buildings owned by the city and partially empty high-rise office buildings in Halifax. With the work-from-home movement here to stay and the coming constructi­on disruption at the Cogswell Interchang­e, it is unlikely this office space will be filled anytime soon. These buildings would make prime prospects for conversion to affordable residentia­l units.

The solutions are there. The money is there. So what is the city waiting for?

The temporary shelter movement has been successful in showing politician­s that homelessne­ss is not just the problem of homeless people. It is everyone’s problem.

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