Edmonton homeless encampments removed as city hits major cold spell

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Edmonton’s dismantling of a collection of camps occupied by people living on the streets has exploded into a political scrap between Mayor Amarjeet Sohi and Alberta’s United Conservative Party, with the provincial government accusing the municipal leader of making “dangerous” statements that put people at risk.

The city in December planned to sweep eight downtown encampments it deemed “high-risk,” but advocates for the homeless turned to the courts to delay the effort. Edmonton Police Service tore down the final camp Wednesday, as temperatures dropped below -20 C. Mr. Sohi, on Thursday, called on council to declare a “housing and houselessness emergency” and said he wanted an emergency meeting with federal, provincial and Indigenous politicians.

Elected officials and police across the country are grappling with how to address the spread of homeless encampments, which human rights and housing advocates consider a crisis. Edmonton cleared the eight clusters of tents and tarps in the name of public safety, arguing it had to take action to protect the camp residents and neighbours from fire, violence and even death.

Mr. Sohi, in his statement, argued Edmonton’s social services and affordable housing supply have not kept pace with the city’s growing population of people without homes. Jason Nixon, the provincial Minister of Seniors, Community and Social Services, on Friday rejected Mr. Sohi’s invitation to meet and accused the mayor of political gamesmanship. Mr. Nixon said shelters in Edmonton and Calgary were at 94-per-cent capacity Thursday night and criticized Mr. Sohi for vacationing in Hawaii rather than accepting updates from a cabinet committee about public safety in the city.

Mr. Nixon, in a news conference Friday, accused Mr. Sohi of making the “dangerous” suggestion that shelters do not have enough space to provide protection from the elements to anyone seeking warmth. The mayor’s statement, however, did not indicate shelters were full. Instead, it focused on the lack of housing and pressed the government to implement better standards for shelters, which could make them more attractive to people who do not feel safe in the facilities.

The provincial minister rebuffed the idea that communal shelters are more risky than living on the streets.

“Anybody who would imply that Alberta’s shelters are somehow less safe than the images that we’re seeing from encampments right now, and that the police have put out, I think needs to give their head a shake,” he said. “It is a ridiculous argument.”

But some Edmontonians who live rough disagree.

Laura Jane Mustus, who lived in one of the encampments Edmonton cleared, said “bad things” happened to her while using shelters, including being attacked.

“I prefer to be in an encampment because it provides me safety and community. And a sense of belonging,” she said in an affidavit filed in court. “I don’t go to shelters because I don’t feel safe … I am worried I will be harmed.”

Mr. Sohi scheduled a special meeting of city council for Jan. 15, and plans to put forward a motion to declare a “housing and houselessness emergency” in Edmonton. The city estimates about 3,000 of its residents lack proper housing, and 60 per cent of those are Indigenous.

The mayor, in a news conference Friday afternoon, acknowledged he was on vacation this week and said he received staff updates while away.

Despite Mr. Nixon rejecting Mr. Sohi’s invitation to an emergency meeting, the mayor said he hopes governments can set aside any differences to help vulnerable Albertans.

“It is never about politics, it is always about people,” Mr. Sohi said.

Edmonton said it removed dozens of people, more than 70 structures, and thousands of kilograms of “waste” from the camps. Three people, including a journalist, were arrested when police tore down the final camp Wednesday.

Environment Canada’s forecast called for the temperature to drop to -40 C in Edmonton Friday night.

The Coalition for Justice and Human Rights is challenging the encampment removals in court and will find out Jan. 16 whether it can proceed with a lawsuit.

Avnish Nanda, an Edmonton-based lawyer representing the coalition, said the heart of its position is that people should be allowed to stay in encampments if there is no safer alternative.

”It’s absolutely ridiculous that the minister relies on his own ideology [rather] than actually speaking to unhoused people, experts and advocates, who all say that there are real safety concerns in the shelter system,” he said. “Both the issues and the solutions have been repeated to this minister numerous times and it is he who failed to take action.”

The coalition maintains that the city’s framework to dismantle encampments violates people’s Charter-protected rights, exposing inhabitants to the elements, which increases the risk of freezing to death, amputations as a result of frostbite, hypothermia and other serious harms.

Some Canadian jurisdictions are approaching the debate over encampments with hospitality rather than hostility, such as in Kingston, where support workers deliver supplies and firefighters coach people on fire safety. Halifax designated areas for tenting. But other cities, such as Vancouver and Toronto, have dismantled encampments, resulting in physical confrontations between police and community members. In several cases, courts have intervened, as in Edmonton.

Andrew Knack, Edmonton’s councillor for Nakota Isga, one of the wards where encampments were located, reluctantly supported the sweeps. City park rangers, he noted, deemed the eight sites high-risk, while other camps remained intact.

“In an imperfect system, we are having to determine what causes the least amount of harm,” he said.

Mr. Knack pinned blame on the provincial government for failing to address housing and social demands. He also urged the province to adjust shelter standards to make them more attractive.

Janis Irwin, the New Democratic Party’s MLA in Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood, echoed Mr. Knack’s call for equipping shelters with amenities such as lockers so people can secure their belongings, making some spaces available to couples, and offering wraparound support. She recognized that some constituents do not feel safe with encampments in their neighbourhoods, but noted some camps were re-established shortly after EPS swept them.

“It won’t work if there’s not places for people to go,” she said.

Elliott Tanti, a spokesperson for homeless-serving organization Boyle Street Community Services, concurred. Sweeping camps pushes some people “deeper and deeper underground,” into what may be more precarious situations, he said.

“If the ultimate goal here is the safety and security of the most vulnerable in our community, encampment sweeps is not the solution,” Mr. Tanti said. “We don’t think encampments are a dignified existence, particularly in a winter city like Edmonton, but we need to be more thoughtful about how we are approaching this – and approaching it in a compassionate way.”