NDP calls for direct rent payments as Prince Albert mayor urges broader housing strategy

Breckner said restoring the payments would give landlords greater certainty and help tenants maintain stable housing as colder weather puts people living outside at greater risk.

The issue has drawn warnings from housing providers and advocates for years.

As paNOW previously reported, then-CEO of the Saskatchewan Landlord Association Cameron Choquette said changes that shifted responsibility for payments to social assistance clients contributed to unpaid rent and made some landlords reluctant to accept those tenants. The province restored direct payments for high-risk clients in November 2021, but Choquette continued calling for a broader return to the payment system in 2024.

Asked how direct payments would help people in a community already struggling with a shortage of affordable housing, Breckner acknowledged the proposal would address only part of the problem.

She said the province also needs to build more affordable housing, bring vacant government-owned units back into use and ensure the housing available matches the needs of individuals and families. The NDP also plans to continue pushing for rent control.

“Along with investing in affordable housing and improving access to supports, restoring direct payments is one part of our team’s larger plan to address the homelessness crisis,” she said.

The scale of Prince Albert’s housing challenge has been documented in previous homeless counts. The city’s 2024 point-in-time count identified 230 people experiencing homelessness, including 106 who were unsheltered. That compared with 120 people experiencing homelessness in 2022, including 57 who were unsheltered.

In a separate interview with paNOW, Mayor Bill Powalinsky said the city receives complaints about homelessness on several fronts, but emergency services alone cannot resolve it.

“The complex needs centre, the emergency shelter, the warm-up shelter, those are all pieces, but we need an entire strategy,” he said.

Powalinsky supports a Housing First approach, describing it as getting people into housing regardless of the issues they are facing.

He said emergency shelters provide temporary help, while longer-term solutions require provincial and federal support.

“The first thing you need are food, clothing, and shelter,” he said. “So we need the support of provincial and federal government to be able to provide the services.”

Meanwhile, Prince Albert continues waiting for its complex needs facility to open in the former downtown liquor store.

In September, paNOW reported the province had not provided an opening date. City community safety co-ordinator Anna Dinsdale said a possible spring opening was an assumption rather than a confirmed provincial timeline. The facility is intended to accommodate up to 15 people experiencing mental health or addictions emergencies, providing care for up to 24 hours and connections to further services.

In a statement provided for that September report, the Ministry of SaskBuilds and Procurement said interior and exterior construction was progressing and further information would be shared as opening plans were finalized.

Breckner called the delay frustrating.

“These are people’s lives we’re talking about,” she said.

Powalinsky also expressed disappointment, while noting the project’s tendering process is handled by the province and is outside the control of the city and police.

“Boy, we’re really looking forward to this opening and really feeling quite sad that construction is behind,” he said.

The mayor said the city is also discussing potential collaboration with First Nations partners to support people who have come to Prince Albert from their communities, although he had no announcement to make.

“We’ve had some good discussion,” he said.

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panews@pattisonmedia.com

by paNOW Staff

NDP calls for direct rent payments as Prince Albert mayor urges broader housing strategy

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