From 16 parks to four.
City staff have revised the encampment approach — to allow camping at some municipal parks — and it will be back at Halifax regional council on Tuesday for a vote.
Critics say it doesn’t do enough to help people in need and it still relies on police for enforcement.
It’s take two, as the first proposal was sent back for tweaks during a May 3 council meeting, most notably ditching the idea of one-night-only stays where people would need to be packed up and out by 8 a.m. This time around, there are four parks targeted: two in Halifax and two in Dartmouth.
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City staff said there will be only four tents in a site but the parks can have more than one site.
“This is based on the experiences of other jurisdictions that noted significantly fewer issues for people sheltering in parks when the number of tents was low,” staff wrote in the report that was released over the weekend.
The locations are:
- Barrington Street green space between Cornwallis Streetand North Streetin Halifax (four to five sites, 20 tents total)
- Lower Flinn Park in Halifax (one site, four tents total)
- Geary Street green space in Dartmouth (one site, four tents total)
- Green Road Park in Dartmouth (two sites, eight total tents total)
It would mean spots for over 30 people to sleep in tents on municipal parks. That’s more than the number of people who are currently sleeping rough specifically in municipal parks right now, city staff wrote, based on their numbers from a point in time count conducted on April 7.
That count also reported that 91 people were “unsheltered in tents, encampments on public land and places unfit for permanent human habitation.”
Not enough
Community organizations who help people who are homeless say this plan doesn’t help enough people.
From the Point in Time count, a snapshot of who was experiencing homelessness that day, they found 91 unsheltered persons in tents, encampments on public land and places unfit for permanent human habitation.
— Adsum for Women & Children (@adsumforwomen) June 11, 2022
This HRM report proposes spaces for 30+ people in 4 locations.
Vicky Levack called it “pitiful.”
The spokesperson for Permanent, Accessible, Dignified and Safe (PADS) Community Network said there are far more than 30 people who need a spot to camp.
“It’s not enough,” she said while on a visit to Meagher Park in Halifax, also known as People’s Park, where she was trying to keep rats from finding their way into tents there.
“We have more than 30 people sleeping rough right now.”
The Affordable Housing Association’s by-name list, which acknowledges that it is not fully comprehensive shows that as of June 8, there are 612 people experiencing homelessness in HRM. By the first week of June, the AHA reported 469 people are actively and chronically homeless. At the end of June, 2021, that number was 266.
“While the overall number of people sleeping rough is expected to increase, this is likely to be offset as new supportive housing options are brought on-line by the province,” staff wrote.
City staff pointed out in their report that there are 200 shelter beds available in Halifax and there are several housing projects in the works, but not yet completed such as the six rapid housing initiatives, and the Halifax modular emergency housing project in the parking lot of the Centennial Pool. They said they expect soon to hear about a third round of federal funding for rapid housing projects.
Police enforcement
Another key sticking point about the plan was around enforcement. In May, several councillors questioned how the rules of camping in municipal parks would be enforced and council directed staff to come back with a more detailed approach to enforcement without police.
A police action last summer to remove shelters in Halifax last summer sparked a massive protest and arrests, something councillors said they don’t wish to repeat.
“I don’t want to see Aug.18recreated in 16 different locations,” said Coun. Lisa Blackburn (Middle/Upper Sackville – Beaver Bank – Lucasville) in May.
City staff said enforcing the ruleswillfirst be the responsibility of the street navigator as well as three municipal compliance officers and a supervisor.
They’ll regularly visit the locations and “always ask people if they need assistance.” Compliance officers will also visit encampments not designated for camping.
“Ultimately, should someone refuse to engage in conversations and negotiations, and significant efforts have been made to resolve concerns, HRP (Halifax Regional Police) may need to be engaged in an involuntary approach to compliance, such as removal of the person from a park space,” staff wrote.
That’s a bad idea, Levack said.
“If you want to help these people, police are not the answer,” she said. “What if those sites are full and they say ‘I tried those sites officer and they’re full.’ And what if they can’t go there if its dangerous for them depending on who is staying there.”
For example, a homeless woman who has experienced sexual assault may not want to be in a male-dominated encampment, she said.
New @hfxgov staff report is online.
— MutualAidHFX (@MutualAidHfx) June 11, 2022
Again, it proposes using @HfxRegPolice to force unhoused people into several approved locations, still w/ too few locations for the # of people sleeping rough.https://t.co/bxZ9eekM8y
Halifax Mutual Aid, a volunteer group whose temporary shelters have been removed by the city, said it’s fundamentally the same plan that was brought to council last month and it doesn’t go far enough to help everyone in need.
“Again, this plan green-lights violent police interactions with our unhoused friends and neighbours,” the volunteer group wrote in a message.
“This is a dangerous combination of failures, where everyone is criminalized and nobody is properly housed. Halifax Mutual Aid volunteers encourage all levels of government to support Housing First solutions.”
A set of criteria were used in park designation. Staff wrote that many of the previous parks that were suggested for one-night-only stays wouldn’t work for multiple nights. As well, Crathorne Park in Dartmouth was taken off to due a Halifax Water project, and Woodside (Dartmouth) and Ravenscraig (Halifax) were taken off the list because of servicing challenges.
