The same week that a federal cabinet minister and an Alberta cabinet minister traded tersely worded statements about their attempts to work together on matters relating to homelessness and encampments, the two have agreed to work together on new funding to address the issues.
Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada issued a statement Wednesday night to say that federal Housing Minister Sean Fraser spoke by phone with Alberta’s Seniors, Community and Social Services Minister Jason Nixon.
“Minister Nixon communicated the government of Alberta’s continued willingness to partner with the federal government and to cost-match the additional federal funding to address encampments and unsheltered homelessness,” the statement read. “The ministers agreed to provide the initial funding to four priority communities in Alberta, including: 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.”
In an email sent to Global News on Thursday, Alysha Wishloff, a spokesperson for Nixon’s office, said the two ministers “discussed the conversations that have been taking place, between both governments, the last several weeks regarding cost-matched encampment funding.”
In a statement issued Tuesday, Fraser accused Alberta of being one of three provinces that did not formally respond to a letter he sent to all provinces and territories Sept. 18, asking them to “partner with the federal government to urgently find shelter for those experiencing homelessness or living in encampments.”
“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.”
Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said he spoke with both Fraser and Nixon after their call on Wednesday and said he hopes the details of an arrangement are worked out quickly because “money is needed now.”
“I am very grateful to Minister Fraser and Minister Nixon for working together on this because there’s so much need out in our community,” Sohi said. “We are losing our unhoused neighbours every day because of houselessness and the conditions that they are living in.
“We are heading into winter. We need more support as a community, and housing and ending houselessness, mental health and the addictions crisis is a shared responsibility of the federal and provincial governments.”
Sohi said the City of Edmonton is doing its part by building more homes and noted about 1,700 supportive housing units are still needed in the city to give homeless people a “decent place to call home with wraparound services.”
Before Wednesday night’s phone call with Nixon, Fraser had said his government planned to reach out to several cities directly to try to work with them on the issue because their provincial governments did not respond.
“We will no longer wait for (provinces) to muster the political will to act as winter gets closer and lives are put at risk,” he said on Tuesday.
In response to the accusation, Nixon had earlier said his government had been actively meeting with federal counterparts on the matter and that Alberta did not receive a formal offer or a deadline to accept an offer.
“It is disappointing, but sadly not surprising, to see that the federal government is playing politics with vulnerable Albertans,” Nixon said Wednesday in response to Fraser’s statement.
Neither government said when its officials would meet to negotiate a finalized deal on the new funding for municipalities.
“The amounts and how the money is used is being finalized as negotiations are ongoing with the province,” a spokesperson for Fraser’s office said in an email sent to Global News on Thursday.
— with files from Global News’ Erik Bay and The Canadian Press’s Lisa Johnson