Proposed Sober Shelter site -- 110 13 Street South

By Connor Gunn

racism cited as a factor by proponents

Mustard Seed leaving Lethbridge after sober shelter denied

Mar 25, 2021 | 4:00 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB– After city council shot down the proposed “sober shelter” from The Mustard Seed and the Lethbridge Soup Kitchen, The Mustard Seed appears to be giving up on Lethbridge.

Executive Director of the Lethbridge Soup Kitchen, Bill Ginther, confirmed that the partnership between them and The Mustard Seed is now over.

“The sad part for me is they have decided as of this morning officially they will be leaving town, they will not be here, they’ve invested upwards of $100,000,” he lamented.

“I met with them (Tuesday) morning for an hour and a half and they have made it official that they will not be staying in town.”

At their meeting on Tuesday, city council defeated the proposed rezoning for the emergency sober shelter at 110-13 Street South in a 7-2 vote.

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Mayor Chris Spearman and Councillor Rob Miyashiro were the only two who voted in favour.

Ginther says it’s quite a coincidence that “the two people who have announced that they’re not running for a council seat, were the ones that voted in favour,” referring to Miyashiro and Spearman.

He also says he can’t count the amount of times Lethbridge citizens say “we’re not opposed to the idea, but just not in my backyard.”

Miyashiro says many people who spoke about the proposed shelter at Tuesday’s public hearing “lowered the bar of discourse when they started talking about indigenous people.”

He says race definitely played a factor in this decision for many Lethbridge citizens.

“That part was disappointing,” he said.

Miyashiro added that he’s sad to see that many of Lethbridge’s citizens were against the proposed area that this sober shelter was planning on being located.

Over 90 written submissions were made to the city regarding the matter prior to the public hearing. Many of them were from business owners and citizens living near the proposed location.

Community members voiced some of their concerns in letters addressed to city council by saying:

“If this is no big deal and a threat of any kind, then why does the city continually try to sneak these organizations thru. The last one was the Harm Reduction on 13 St N recently. That speaks volumes! Is this how the SCS got started up? Because I don’t recall any kind of notice for it. It just showed up… STOP TRYING TO TRICK US & SNEAK AROUND ON US. WE PAY YOUR SALARIES! There is a pattern here.”

“We live downtown, like to walk in the area and to SaveOn Foods. We have not felt safe walking the Stanford Drive overpass due to the indigents wandering from the homeless facilities in the area.”

“Perhaps expansion to the already existing shelter and soup kitchen facility would better fit the needs of the homeless and troubled in need of care and compassion.”

“I want to know exactly what the “resource center” and “drop-in center” mean. The vagueness could allow them to start giving out syringes or having a safe consumption site 3 blocks from my house. We already have an increased crime level and debris. We don’t need more.”