Prince Albert NDP candidate Harmony Johnson-Harder,left, attended a meeting Friday focused on dealing with homelessness in P.A. (Submitted Photograph/Kyle Anderson)

By Michael Joel-Hansen

Solutions for homelessness

Prince Albert NDP candidate talks homelessness

Sep 21, 2019 | 5:39 PM

The NDP candidate for Prince Albert is weighing in on the issue of housing and homelessness.

On Friday Harmony Johnson-Harder attended a meeting of the Prince Albert Community Advisory Board on Homelessness. The gathering, which was organized by Riverbank Development Corporation, brought out people from a variety of organizations and included frontline service workers.

Johnson-Harder said she was motivated to attend in part because she wanted to hear from frontline workers about what was going on.

“Just really to listen,” she said.

According to Johnson-Harder the social services agencies and frontline workers agreed there are gaps when it comes to addressing homelessness. Specifically, Johnson-Harder said the cost of housing and lack of affordable accommodation were top concerns along with navigating the overall system.

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The Prince Albert NDP candidate thinks her party’s platform, which calls for a national housing strategy, would be helpful in solving some of the issues P.A. is currently facing. The strategy calls for federal support for cooperative housing, affordable housing and working to further support first-time home buyers along with bringing back 30-year mortgages.

“The Housing Strategy address complex needs and has a lot of solutions to the complex needs of P.A. residents,” she said.

Along with the housing strategy Johnson-Harder said it is necessary to deal with other issues like mental health and addictions. Johnson-Harder said implementing policies the NDP is advocating like expanding pharmaceutical coverage, are also part of dealing with the issue of homelessness.

“[It’s about] getting people the help that they need and providing the funding to community, through expanding health care,” she said.

MichaelJoel.Hansen@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @mjhskcdn