The federal housing ministry says Alberta has agreed to partner with Ottawa on a cost-matching initiative to address unsheltered homelessness.
The initial funding from this effort, which hasn’t been disclosed, will be diverted to four communities: Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge, and Red Deer.
“The Ministers have directed their respective officials to meet in the coming days and to negotiate a deal which would see this funding go to communities on an urgent basis,” the Ministry of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada said in a statement late Wednesday.
The statement said the agreement came after a phone call between the two ministers. The conversation followed a spat, in which the federal government accused the province for not responding to its country-wide call to collaborate on the issue, while the province retorted Ottawa’s statement is false.
On late Tuesday, Housing Minister Sean Fraser offered money to cities in the province since, he said, Alberta hadn’t formally responded to its letter in September, in which he proposed a cost-matching initiative to address homelessness as winter approaches.
However, Alberta’s Seniors, Community and Social Services Minister Jason Nixon quashed the accusation in an interview with Postmedia.
“We’ve had officials from my department participate in those conversations, including just this past Monday of this week . . . 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.”
Several other politicians chimed in. NDP’s housing critic Janis Irwin criticized the UCP government, adding, “In Edmonton alone, a record number of people—110—experienced limb amputation due to frostbite last winter.
“With a record number of unhoused people in Edmonton following a record number of Albertans dying last year on the streets, it’s critical to use every tool to help address this crisis.”
NDP leader Naheed Nenshi, too, commented on the issue, saying, “Leaving money on the table is wasteful and this is at the expense of Albertans who need it most.”
Calgary’s Mayor Jyoti Gondek in an emailed statement on Wednesday urged the province to work with the federal government.
“As a city, we have invested $6 million on community outreach teams, creation of warm daytime spaces and safe transportation options to homeless emergency shelters for unhoused Calgarians,” Gondek said.
“With the funding being offered by Minister Fraser, we can continue the life-saving work the City of Calgary does related to encampments, mental health and addictions, drug poisoning response and affordable housing.”
The province again responded to the issue with a statement late Wednesday, saying: ““While Alberta is open to federal partnership on these issues, we are not interested in playing politics with the federal government. Alberta will continue investing in this life-changing work, with or without the federal government.”