Lethbridge city staff are working on a report and strategy on how to deal with encampments of unhoused people in the city. A motion, brought forward by Councillor John Middleton-Hope, sparked a conversation on the issue of homelessness and enforcement of camping bylaws.
The motion, which was carried unanimously, directed city administration to report to the community safety standing policy committee on October 13 with the current process of encampment removal, as well as bylaw amendment recommendations and advocacy strategies to the province for long-term solutions for affordable housing. Middleton-Hope was hopeful the conversation and the strategy will lead to more long-term solutions for the city.
“We are dealing with a whole host of not only social issues, but crime issues that have really imposed a very denigrated environment in our community, in our city. We have people discarding debris, drug debris, sex trade debris, all over the street, we have people defecating in doorways, we have people living on the streets.”
“These are the symbols of a decaying society and we need to eradicate that. We need to resolve it,” he said. “I don’t care that it’s the province’s responsibility quite candidly. We have a responsibility to it because either the citizens affected by it are ours, or the citizens who have to live it, are ours. So at the end of the day it’s time for us to come up with some viable solutions.”
Coun. Rajko Dodic pointed out a bylaw which prohibits people from setting up camps in public places and interfering with the enjoyment of parks.
“It is an unlawful behavior that is subject to some penalties,” said Dodic. “At what point does the average citizen who would like the free use and enjoyment of a park priority get considered versus the human rights issue and that’s the concern I have with this.” He questioned how the two sides can be treated equally and equitably in a solution and said he is excited to see what the report comes back with.
Mayor Blaine Hyggen questioned community services director Mike Fox on the complaint process for encampments and asked if he would be kicked out if he set up a tent in a park.
“There is a difference between camping and the human rights of somebody having shelter and there are different bylaws across Canada that are being updated to talk about people without shelter and the timelines in certain public spaces for them to allow to set up shelter if there is nowhere for them to be sheltered,” Fox said.
Hyggen responded by asking if this is in the bylaw and Fox said it is not. He questioned the removal process, specifically for the camp off Stafford Drive, outside of Alpha House.
“They do not have a home. Let’s face it, that’s a struggle within itself, but there is a safety part to it as well,” Hyggen said. “This morning I was over and it was door to door service — I was seeing harm reduction being handed out into tents this morning when I was over there and there is an OPS that’s just 50 bloody feet away from where they were handing this stuff out. This is continuing and I just want to know if these complaints come in, what is happening with this? What are we going to do, especially with this one that I just mentioned that is probably one of the largest ones.”
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City staff said camps are removed immediately if there is a safety concern or illegal activity, but it is a cyclical process and long-term solutions are another aspect that needs to be addressed.
BACKGROUND: Encampment teardowns continue outside Lethbridge shelter
“We are working on a flowchart to show all the things that have to happen to address encampments in a timely manner on different properties with different thing happening at them and once we are done that flowchart, it will identify some issues, some gaps and that would be part of what we would bring back for this for consideration for council,” Fox said.
One potential solution Middleton-Hope wants to see is a relocation strategy, which was not included in his motion. He said there needs to be a place to accommodate people for temporary housing on city-owned land.
“There is a location that they [city staff] are looking at to move people away from here to put them into a safer environment that is better controlled, better managed and hopefully then we can start working on strategies to address the bigger problem, which is long-term homelessness,” Middleton-Hope said.
Dodic emphasized the bylaw prohibiting camps and said the city is choosing not to enforce it aggressively because of compassion. Middleton-Hope said the problem is not one the city can enforce its way out of.
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“That’s not going to stop homelessness and it is not going to stop the camps so we need to work more collaboratively together, we have to look at developing a comprehensive strategy that is going to address this problem so that we can make a made in Lethbridge solution, whatever that happens to be,” he said.
He added the issue has become much more complex than it was in his previous career as a police officer and the city often lacks resources and legislative power to find viable solutions.
“Society has changed. When there was talk about human rights and so forth, that has now become, because there are advocates for the homeless, that has now become part of the problem, which to a degree impedes our ability to find solutions that are going to work,” he said.