A motion made by Halifax’s newly-elected mayor to scrap a list of nine designated tent encampment sites was narrowly defeated, with some councillors calling the move “premature” and unnecessary.
The motion was defeated 8-7 on Tuesday after heated debate in council chambers.
Mayor Andy Fillmore’s motion aimed to remove the nine sites that were pre-approved in July, and instead have Regional Council “make decisions regarding designating sites going forward.” As it stands, the CAO has the authority to open any of the pre-approved designated sites.
The sites include the Halifax Common, Point Pleasant Park and the Geary Street Green Space. Some of the spots chosen raised eyebrows at the time for being inappropriate, with Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston declaring he nearly “fell off his chair” when he learned about the list.
But councillors voiced concerns Tuesday over what impact passing the motion would have on the unhoused population currently living at these sites.
“Later today, tomorrow, next week — nothing is different,” said Coun. Shawn Cleary. “I mean, virtue signaling is something you can use to describe this but really it’s meaningless. It’s like the apex of meaningless.”
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But Fillmore said that tents are not “a solution,” and that the municipality needs to prioritize shelter space instead of encampments.
“There are vacancies across the system and if we’re providing alternatives to that that are not good for HRM residents or the people living rough, then we’re not doing our job,” he said.
Coun. Sam Austin was among those who voted against the motion — saying it didn’t make sense at this stage.
“The challenge is that we haven’t yet got to the place where there’s more than enough space out there for the people that are living outside,” said Austin.
“So you have people outside because they have no other choice. There’s nowhere for them to go. So what do you do with that reality? And that’s something that we’re grappling with.”
Previously, several tent encampment sites have been de-designated by the municipality because of safety reasons. These sites include Grand Parade in front of city hall and the University Avenue green space in the city’s south end.
In a June update to council, the by-name list of people experiencing homelessness in Halifax had reached 1,316 people.
Mayor’s campaign promise
Fillmore ran a large portion of his election campaign on the promise to remove the designated encampment sites.
The mayor is new to council and was a Liberal member of Parliament for Halifax for nine years.
He said during his campaign that police had told him the city is attracting homeless people from outside the province — a fact he attributes to the municipality providing support like outhouses and water at city-designated encampment sites.
A Halifax Regional Police spokesperson later said the information had not come from the police chief’s office, “nor do we have data at (the city police) to support it.”
Fillmore was elected mayor in the October municipal election, with just over 42 per cent of the votes cast.
While Tuesday’s vote didn’t go in his favour, Fillmore says the municipality is making progress providing affordable housing for residents.
“The number of people sleeping rough in the winter declines, people do find other alternatives, and spring is coming,” he said.
“While the winter carries on, the province is at an increasing rate bringing more and more options online. I believe the worst of the housing crisis is behind us and it’s only going to get better.”
Coun. Austin said he isn’t too sure.
“I think there’s promising signs, which is what the mayor is speaking to. But we’re not there yet, so taking sites off a list when we don’t actually have the problem solved is premature.”
— with files from Global News’ Jake Webb and The Canadian Press
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