SASKATOON — Saskatoon Tribal Council Chief Mark Arcand said having a long-term solution to the issue of homelessness in the city is their ultimate goal as they address the growing crisis, especially with the temperatures starting to hit below zero degrees.
Arcand, Saskatoon Fire Department Chief Morgan Hackl and SFD Assistant Chief Yvonne Raymer met with members of the local media in a Zoom video conference — with the help of City Media Relations Manager Mark Rogstad — on Tuesday to present an update on their response to help the unhoused population in the community.
The SFD had already put up an emergency operations centre to address the issues on health and safety of homeless people and those who live outdoors in the City with the goal of having them moved to emergency shelters.
The Sawêyihtotân community outreach team, the Saskatoon Housing Initiative Partnership (SHIP), Lighthouse, Salvation Army and Saskatoon Police Service are some of the agencies that provide help and other forms of assistance along with the STC, SFD and the City of Saskatoon.
Temperatures in Saskatoon have begun to hit below zero with the highest expected to reach 10 C Nov. 5, and the lowest at -11 C Nov. 11. The city might have its first snow showers Nov. 10 .
Arcand said people who are living in encampments and other makeshift living facilities are their number one concern.
“This is a critical situation in the city of Saskatoon. Right now, the [STC] and our chiefs we’ve discussed our homelessness population, and we're very concerned about the large encampments that are happening or potentially happening.
“Even the smaller encampments because they're not safe at this point. They're not safe for the health of our people. They're not fire regulated, for people who trying to keep [themselves] warm. So, we do not support large encampments [and] we're going to do everything in our power to really mitigate this homelessness crisis we're in right now in the city of Saskatoon.”
He added the COVID-19 pandemic also contributed to the problem.
“I think we've hit a crisis point, in my view, and because of COVID and all [its] negatives that's happened over the last couple years. I think [in] the previous years, it was a little bit manageable. So, we've had the Lighthouse, we've had the Salvation Army. We've had the cold weather strategy in Saskatoon.
“That really made a difference, but we can see from when COVID hit the Sawêyihtotân program for last year in February of one of the coldest days of the year, they were out all night, taking people to hotels. I think it was around 60 to 70 people in one evening. So, we know that this crisis has increased through COVID ...
“Chief Hackl has spoke about the provincial government and some of the challenges there, but if we all work together, we're going to really knock this this down here in a short period of time, and we're doing it for the community, for the city, and most importantly the people that need our support.”
He added the STC would assist the SFD with the needed tools in their program and to have alternative solutions to mitigate the issue.
“We're under a crisis at this point and what the [STC] is willing to do right now is we're looking at alternative options for immediate shelter whether it's in a warehouse, a gymnasium, whatever it may be.
“We will work closely with our program, so we have tools to help support the [SFD] in all of these areas, and provide outreach and support as we've always done through our program ... We're looking for funding. We're going to have it staffed 24 hours a day and we're having 50 cots with blankets as a starting point.”
Large number of homeless
Raymer, though they don’t have immediate data, says the department believes there’s a large number of homeless people in the city.
“We believe there are likely over a hundred people who are without proper shelter in Saskatoon – that is, sleeping in the open or in makeshift shelters – so, we want to help them find safe, healthy and appropriate emergency shelter.
"This is about working together as a whole community to support people in accessing emergency shelter. We are working on keeping individuals safe and finding ways to best support them with emergency wrap-around resources within our capacity. Right now, though, we can’t in good conscience allow people to live in the elements as the weather continues to get colder.”
She added that they looked at what happened with other makeshift houses in the province.
“We have learned from experiences in other municipalities that when large encampments happen, those create greater health and safety risks.
“We have already been called to fires at makeshift shelters. So, of course, we want to find a way around that and help people with viable, dignified options and continue to offer them supports, even if at first, they decline."
Identifying the places (camps) where people are living in makeshift shelters, delegating a task force to the camps, talking to the people who are unhoused to build trust, and offering wrap-around supports to food, mental health and addiction support, access to elders and counselling, COVID testing and, ultimately, long-term housing are the main goals of the task force.
Community outreach workers will be part of the task force and will be at the forefront. The team will work together to help the homeless who are currently living in parks, natural areas, along the riverbank and other areas of the city.
