Two-year extension for Red Deer’s temporary shelter back on the table

This dilemma heated up last March when council extended the original one-year permit for Safe Harbour Society to operate a temporary shelter there. The Province had afforded them that ability when the pandemic reached Alberta in March 2020.

Through spring and summer 2021, it was given multiple short-term extensions in hopes City staff could find an alternate site for relocation. Two weeks before Safe Harbour’s permit was set to expire on Oct. 1, the City implemented a State of Local Emergency (SOLE).

The SOLE, put in place for various reasons, including surging COVID numbers, allowed Safe Harbour and its clients a reprieve until mid-November. Early last month, the SOLE was extended for up to 90 days — until mid-February, meaning the shelter could keep its doors open.

Now, council will reconsider a decision previous council made in June to not extend the permit for operation at Cannery Row for two years.

In theory, this would bridge the gap until the permanent, $7 million shelter is built. Funding was announced for that project by the UCP in early 2019, a year after the former NDP government announced the same.

In a release, the City says construction, once it begins, will take approximately two years. A site will be determined in the near future.

“We are working closely with the Province to get shovels in the ground next spring to begin construction of a permanent emergency housing site in our community that will not only provide a shelter for those in need, but the resources to get them to a place where they can be housed permanently,” said Mayor Ken Johnston.

“Although the subject of temporary emergency housing has been very public in our community for more than a year, members of council will go into the public hearing with an open mind, and we hope that members of our community and businesses will do the same.

“Our primary goal is to end homelessness in our community, and there are a lot of partners required to make that happen.”

Wednesday, it was reiterated to council that City staff have worked arduously to find an alternative to Cannery Row. Despite that hard work, only one property has shown any firm interest in housing the shelter: Cannery Row.

City officials looked at 80 properties in all for a new temporary shelter, with prices ranging from $700,000 to $11.2 million. Contractors provided estimates for what the City determined to be the five most feasible, with costs between $1.11 million and $1.87 million.

One option was an empty site with a modular home set-up.

“I get the burnout. It’s no different than the burnout folks who are responding to COVID at the hospital are feeling,” said Councillor Dianne Wyntjes. “It’s been difficult, but we are now having to learn to live with COVID, and with all due respect, using ‘We’re living in COVID’ as an excuse for something that’s not being responded to — sooner or later, you must get your task off your list.”

One of the biggest outstanding concerns is a gap in services should the current temporary shelter be forced to close, which it will once the SOLE ends. That is unless council approves an extension under the Land Use Bylaw.

Potential ramifications of closure are many, including an increase in urban encampments, and, admin say, the proliferation of littering, needle debris/drug paraphernalia, vandalism, harassment and other crime. That’s of course not to mention that the city’s homeless population would be without shelter during the year’s coldest months.

Downtown business owners expressed concerns over the same things the last several months, based on the shelter’s proximity to them.

First reading of the proposed extension returns to council Dec. 6.

Councillor Cindy Jefferies voted against the motion to reconsider, stating that if a location is chosen for the permanent site, that should be sufficient.

Council also directed administration to craft a Diversion Plan, which would come back to council within three weeks.

“The report would provide a plan that supports housing and homelessness initiatives that are aligned with the Community Housing and Homelessness Integrated Plan (CHHIP). Administration would recommend investing in dedicated diversion tactics like transitional housing that ultimately prevent clients from ever using emergency shelter to begin with,” an administrative report reads.

“Programs such as the housing pilot outlined previously and recently implemented in Red Deer have proven to dramatically increase diversion options and remove barriers that were preventing families from keeping their housing or accessing other options.”

“The principle of this is: do we want to have a shelter or don’t we?” said Councillor Michael Dawe. “Given the extensive reports we had in the last few months, looking through alternatives just simply isn’t an option anymore.”

The full administrative report from Wednesday’s meeting can be read here.

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by Alessia Proietti and Josh Hall

Two-year extension for Red Deer’s temporary shelter back on the table

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