The federal housing minister says he’s tired of waiting for the UCP to partner with Ottawa to address homeless encampments
The federal housing minister lambasted the province on Tuesday, saying he’s tired of waiting for the Danielle Smith government to partner with Ottawa to address homeless encampments, while extending the offer to cities.
Housing Minister Sean Fraser said he had sent letters to every province and territory last month, offering them a portion of $250 million in exchange for matching contributions to help find shelter for those experiencing homelessness.
“In these cases – along with any others who do not take quick action – we are now approaching municipalities directly to work with them urgently.”
However, Seniors, Community and Social Services Minister Jason Nixon told Postmedia in an interview Fraser’s statement is false.
“We’ve had officials from my department participate in those conversations, including just this past Monday of this week, the most recent meeting in those, so we don’t know what the federal government is talking about,” Nixon said.
“We have no offer from the federal government. We certainly haven’t said no to any offer, and we certainly never received any type of deadline or any type of conversation along those lines.”
The verbal sparring between Ottawa and Alberta is the latest conflict in funding agreements that cut across several areas, including dental care, pharmacare and childcare. Most of these efforts, spearheaded by the federal government, were rebuffed by the province, which demanded money for its existing programs.
Such disagreements were punctuated by provincial legislation that prevents municipalities from entering into agreements with the federal government without provincial approval.
When asked if the province would allow cities to deal with the federal government directly, Nixon questioned the ability of local governments to match funding for encampments.
“If cities put together some sort of arrangement that helps put more funding to help us deal with homelessness, we, of course, would support that, you know, as long as it meets the overall objective of the provincial government,” Nixon said.
The ministry didn’t immediately respond to Postmedia’s request for clarification about what Nixon meant by the provincial government’s objectives.
The statements come as Calgary grapples with a surge in calls about homeless encampments.
Most of the encampments are found in the city’s downtown or inner city, though they’ve been spreading to Calgary’s suburban areas, according to a city community standards inspector, Sue Wall.
A spokesman for the Alpha House Society, which performs homeless outreach, said those encampments can be found from the Crowfoot shopping area in the northwest to Forest Lawn and Rundle.
Wall said there are several reasons people sleep outdoors, including housing affordability issues, substance abuse, fear of emergency shelters or an inability to access them.
Wall’s comments follow a report in February by the federal housing advocate that called for an end to forced evictions of residents in homeless camps and the recognition of their rights to gather in such spaces in the absence of affordable, accessible housing — a recommendation Premier Danielle Smith dismissed.
More than 25 per cent of emergency shelter beds in Calgary were filled by new people entering the system, according to a 2021 study by the University of Calgary. Meanwhile, the Calgary Drop-In Centre saw an annual increase of 26 per cent in those seeking shelter in 2023.
Advocates have cited unsanitary conditions, including bed bugs, unhygienic washrooms, and a host of infections, in Calgary’s shelters that compel many to sleep outdoors.
However, encampments are in no way safe. In December, three people died in Calgary after a shed at the Crowfoot Crossing shopping plaza they were sheltering in caught fire.
Advocates say the solution is affordable housing. Nixon, in the interview, touted the government’s initiatives, calling it “the largest investment in affordable housing in Alberta’s history.”
Although the province’s investment in affordable housing in 2024 was four times that of its contribution in 2022 with more than $800 million, it has only allotted only $62 million this year for new projects and retrofits, while the remaining money is allotted to maintaining its existing housing stock.
— With files from Bill Kaufmann