Representatives from different organizations meeting to discuss Prince Albert's homeless crisis. (Jaryn Vecchio/paNOW Staff)

By Jaryn Vecchio

Finding Solutions

Permanent shelter takes centre stage during meeting on P.A.’s homeless crisis

Nov 1, 2023 | 5:00 PM

A permanent shelter will help address the city’s homeless crisis, but it won’t solve that or the issue of affordable housing in Prince Albert, according to local service providers, emergency workers and elected officials.

Those were two of the various sentiments shared at today’s meeting to discuss Prince Albert homelessness, hosted by the Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC) with representatives from the city, police, YWCA, Salvation Army, Parkland Ambulance, and more taking part.

The main point of discussion was a permanent shelter to replace Stepping Stones which only operates during the winter months.

Donna Brooks, the CEO of the YWCA, told reporters it is needed; however, it isn’t a fix-all solution. She likened it to a hospital’s emergency department.

“When a person comes in, the emergency room does the life-saving procedures but from there, they’re referred to specialized services,” she said.

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Donna Brooks, CEO of YWCA Prince Albert, speaking at the homeless meeting. (Jaryn Vecchio/paNOW Staff)

For it to truly be beneficial, Brooks noted the shelter would need to include access to other services such as additions and mental health counselling.

This was something Mayor Greg Dionne agreed with. In his opinion, having a space that only allows people to have a place to sleep and get meals prolongs the issue.

“We can’t be enablers; we have to start curing the problem [of addiction]. It is a disease, but let’s treat it as a disease and start working on [solutions],” he said.

Prince Albert Mayor Greg Dionne at the homeless meeting. (Jaryn Vecchio/paNOW Staff)

At this time, the YWCA is trying to find a spot for the shelter. Brooks and Dionne are both confident they’ll have something in place by this time next year. In the meantime, Stepping Stones officially opens its doors Wednesday night. It will turn into a 24-hour shelter by Dec. 1, 2023, at the very latest.

Affordable housing was also a hot topic. Dionne explained there are available places in P.A., but many landlords are looking to sell them rather than rent them out due to the lack of care they receive.

“It’s hard to get people into housing when they don’t know how to treat the housing,” he said.

Housing in First Nations was also brought up.

Many communities are seeing community members move to urban centres since they can’t find a place to live. Prince Albert is usually top of the list because it’s the closest city. PAGC Vice Chief Christopher Jobb explained that Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation has around 12,000 members, not all living in the First Nation, but less than 1,000 homes.

“It’s the federal government not providing enough housing for our First Nations,” said PAGC Grand Chief Brian Hardlotte.

He believes having more housing options would limit the number of people coming to Prince Albert who end up homeless.

PAGC Grand Chief Brian Hardlotte speaking at the homeless meeting. (Jaryn Vecchio/paNOW Staff)

The last big talking point was addictions. Many of the homeless population have some form of addiction which has led to them living on the streets.

Police Chief Patrick Nogier shared some statistics at the meeting, highlighting just how much of an addiction problem the community has. From Jan. 1, 2023, to Oct. 31, 2023, police have received 2,386 calls for people being intoxicated. According to Nogier, this is on par with Saskatoon and Regina.

“I know the population base is under 40,000 people but we know on any given day that (number) can fluctuate quite alarmingly,” he said. “Prince Albert is unique, it’s unique in that it compares to the larger centres but doesn’t have the tax base that can support it.”

Prince Albert Police Chief Patrick Nogier at the homeless meeting. (Jaryn Vecchio/paNOW Staff)

He added, in those instances, someone was brought to a jail cell to sober up around 1,600 times. However, only 100 tickets were handed out. This is because the police are less focused on punishing those suffering and more focused on stopping those supplying them.

“We know that individuals are profiting off of victimization. We know individuals are profiting off of homeless people that are addicted to drugs and that’s where we need to have an impact,” Nogier said.

He also provided some numbers to back up that statement. In the third quarter of 2023, from July to September, P.A. police seized the third most illegal substances among all the police agencies in Saskatchewan.

Meanwhile, all the organizations agreed to hold another meeting to continue the dialogue.

The permanent shelter will once again be a big talking point as the YWCA plans on scheduling a time to bring everyone back together once they have more news they can share.

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Jaryn.Vecchio@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow