The federal government says Alberta is one of three provinces that have yet to formally respond to a letter offering new assistance on issues relating to homelessness and homeless encampments, a claim Alberta’s housing minister suggests is inaccurate.
In a statement issued Tuesday, federal Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Minister Sean Fraser said his government will “no longer wait for them to muster the political will to act as winter gets closer and lives are put at risk.”
According to Fraser, his offer was sent to all provinces and territories on Sept. 18 and asked them to “partner with the federal government to urgently find shelter for those experiencing homelessness or living in encampments.”
Fraser said his government believes provincial governments were given sufficient time to respond to the offer and that “there is no time to wait” as winter approaches. He said he also has yet to receive a response from Saskatchewan and Ontario.
“In the letter, we offered millions of dollars in additional funding in exchange for partnering with us and matching our contributions,” Fraser said. “The funding on offer is the $250 million we announced to address the urgent issue of encampments and unsheltered homelessness in Budget 2024.”
Global News reached out to the Alberta government for comment on Fraser’s statement. In response, Alberta’s Seniors, Community and Social Services Minister Jason Nixon said the letter sent on Sept. 18 initiated “a planning discussion for federal encampment money” but “was not an offer.”
“At no point was a deadline provided to the province to respond to encampment funding,” he said. “However, Alberta did respond immediately to the offer for discussion and officials from both governments have met regularly to discuss the best use of these funds, including as recently as Monday.
“It is disappointing, but sadly not surprising, to see that the federal government is playing politics with vulnerable Albertans.”
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Fraser said his government is now approaching municipalities directly to work with them.
“If a province or territory partners with us, they will be able to select the communities that will get funding from us,” he said. “Should they wish to forego a partnership with us, we will rely on the best available data to inform our decisions.
“We will approach five cities first given their readiness to quickly adopt cost-matched responses. They are: Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Regina, and Saskatoon. This list is not exhaustive, as we will be approaching more communities that have demonstrated an ability to quickly respond to encampments.”
Alberta’s Opposition housing critic issued a statement about the issue on Wednesday and said she believes the province’s UCP government is “picking fights” with the federal government at citizens’ expense.
“It’s outrageous that the UCP would willingly leave money on the table that would help Albertans find homes and reduce encampments,” Janis Irwin’s statement read in part. “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.
“Rural communities are also facing these same issues, and by refusing to work with the federal government, the UCP is leaving these communities without support.”
Earlier this month, an initiative was undertaken in a number of Alberta’s cities and towns to try to count the current number of people experiencing homelessness.
In May, the non-profit organization Homeward Trust Edmonton estimated that about 3,200 people in Alberta’s capital were experiencing homelessness. Homeless advocates in Alberta have said the number of people experiencing homelessness began to rise in 2017 and doubled over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In July, Edmonton city council voted to approve a motion put forward by Coun. Andrew Knack calling for the city to work with the provincial government on a transition strategy for housing and homelessness services that are funded by the city but fall under provincial jurisdiction.
Knack told Global News that 302 people died on the streets of Edmonton in 2023, a significant jump from 37 deaths reported in 2019. He said city council has funded millions of dollars worth of patchwork solutions to homelessness. He said most of those do not fall under the city’s jurisdiction, but the work is not being co-ordinated with the province.
After that vote, a spokesperson for Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver said if the city provides an itemized list of programs or services for which it wants provincial funding, the government will review it and discuss the ask with city officials.
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