SuppliedThe more information we get about the province’s navigation and support centre, the less great it seems. The Government of Alberta opened the centre as the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) cleared homeless encampments across Edmonton in January. It was meant to help those who were living in encampments get support as they were displaced. But the province ignored the need to improve the conditions of existing shelters, which are lacking support.
As it turns out — and as many advocates had predicted — the navigation centre fell short of directing homeless people to resources and shelters. Part of the issue is that those experiencing homelessness don’t feel shelters are a safe option for them. Concerns of hygiene, theft, and assault in shelters are among reasons for that. Additionally, shelters can be strict about what people can and can’t bring with them. Shelters may not have storage available for people to store their belongings, so they also risk losing things.
As we approach winter again, the provincial government needs to rethink how it supports homeless folks. The focus needs to be on continually improving existing homeless shelters’ conditions so people feel comfortable actually staying in them. But for shelters to do that, they need better access to resources and they need it now.
The province’s navigation centre began as a temporary measure, but the province made it permanent after its supposed success. But new data from EPS showed that 80 per cent of those evicted from encampments chose not to access the navigation centre. So the centre helped only a fraction of those that the encampment sweeps affected. And how much the navigation centre actually helped those who accessed its services is murky.
There’s been conflicting claims about how many people actually accessed the navigation centre’s services. The province has said that the centre has helped 2,900 people. But EPS’ data says only 230 people that EPS encountered in the sweeps went to the navigation centre. If only 230 of the 1,119 people directly affected by EPS’ sweeps were helped by the centre soon after, that’s not nearly enough.
In a statement from Janis Irwin, the New Democratic Party’s (NDP) housing critic, she revealed that by March 26 only five people were provided with permanent housing. If the centre directed the rest to shelters they didn’t feel were safe in the first place, that doesn’t solve anything.
But even the navigation centre’s feeble attempts to help didn’t address the root of the problem. Lack of access to housing is an obvious cause of homelessness that needs to be addressed. But people choose to stay in encampments because they’re reluctant to stay in shelters.
But it’s not that shelters aren’t trying hard enough to make themselves a safe place to stay. Shelters’ resources aren’t endless — they often struggle with funding. Boyle Shelter has had to move and now faces a legal fight from the Katz Group over its $5 million donation. Some shelters and resources have had to close because of financial struggles over the past few years.
Instead of spending $13 million to open the navigation centre, the province could have invested that money into existing shelters and services. The City of Edmonton has also spent millions of dollars on clearing homeless encampments. Yet it decided not to extend funding for shelters as this funding is the responsibility of the province.
Sweeping more encampments and propping the navigation centre up as the perfect consolation prize isn’t solving any problems. But already established shelters and supports for homeless people could make a real impact, if the municipal and provincial government supported them. Advocates have already been saying this, and it’s time for governments to start listening.
