Discussions around homelessness and addictions were had at the Hilton Garden Inn in Saskatoon on Tuesday at an event called “From Struggles to Success.”
“We cannot do this without the province taking active leadership and building a system together,” said Mayor Charlie Clark, one of the many speakers at the event.
He said there have been discussions happening within several organizations in Saskatoon, but said this event allowed them to come together and find a common understanding.
Clark said 85 per cent of homeless people in Saskatoon are First Nations people.
“We are needing to face this crisis and also understand how to build a different way forward that recognizes the roots of so much of the pain and what people are experiencing.”
He said he’s spoken with people who work with homeless people, recognizing they are stressed.
“You are very stressed, and you’re worried about our community, and you are worried about what you are seeing out there, and I’ve heard that. And you’ve been trying and working for months and years to help people and to help turn things around. And instead of things getting better, it feels like they’re getting worse.”
He said he feels the stress of that, adding that people working in those fields are saving lives and making a difference.
Clark said that Saskatoon was already facing some of these issues before the pandemic, but that the pandemic blew apart the social connections that many people had and depended on, creating isolation.
He said the city has had services that aim to help homeless people close while still having people come from across the province in search of those kinds of services.
“This is a combination of factors that I believe is playing a big role in why we’re seeing these acute issues in our community,” Clark said.
Clark said other cities across the country are seeing similar issues.
“Last year, we had 387 overdose deaths in the province, which is a record number, and it was a record number from the year before that, and it was a record number from the year before that.”
“We’re facing an urgent crisis situation that requires that immediate action to happen, to make sure we can stabilize and turn things around here,” Clark said.
He said efforts are being made by several agencies to work to address these problems, but said more supports are needed.
He said there are too many one-off programs, adding that a coordinated system is needed.
“The city does not have the jurisdiction, the capacity, the resources, or the expertise to fix these issues as the City of Saskatoon.”
Clark believes that the provincial and federal governments need to play a more active role in the community.
He said barriers need to be dropped to make it easier for people to get identification documents as well as social assistance and housing.
Clark said there are models of housing that require 24-hour care that work, noting the city needs 100 beds. While providing those would require investment, he said they would be much cheaper than sending people to emergency rooms or jail.
He said the community needs to work with the city to find places where that kind of housing would succeed, suggesting that they need to be spread across the city in different neighbourhoods, and that they need to be established soon.
“We need to figure that out in the next months. I’m not talking about years.”
Peter Nippi, a member of the Kinistin Saulteaux Nation who has spoken a lot about Indigenous healing initiatives, spoke about his struggles.
“Addictions led me to a lot of hurt, pain, covering up, medicating because of my own trauma as a result of the residential schools, as a result of a different belief system, as a result of a different language,” Nippi said.
“When we walk with hurt and pain, it is only through people who care and show us actions of love that we are able to stand on our own two feet.”
He said uncomfortable things needed to be talked about.
Saskatoon Police Service Chief Troy Cooper said there’s been an increase in crime related to drug addictions, saying crimes like break-ins to sheds, thefts from vehicles and shoplifting have increased.
“We know that if there’s an increase in alcohol addiction you’ll see an increase in violence generally, but when there’s an increase in a community, or the presence of addictive drugs, you’ll see an increase in property crime,” Cooper said.
He said police are responding to many calls that are not criminal, saying that accounts for about 80 per cent of what they are working on.
“You think about things like missing persons or responding to overdose calls. We do most of our work in the non-criminal area.”
Cooper talked about people with complex needs, giving an example of someone who may not only be facing a housing issue, but also addictions and mental health issues.
He said they interact with police often, but said traditional policing methods aren’t effective for them.
Cooper said issuing tickets or putting these people in custody isn’t addressing the issue, giving an example of one person in Saskatoon who has been in a jail cell 82 times this year.
He said he’s invested in finding a solution, saying policing isn’t the answer.
“The police are not the right response and custody is not appropriate.”
Yvonne Raymer, assistant chief of operations with the Saskatoon Fire Department, said crews are seeing a consistent increase in calls, a main driver being the overdose calls the fire department has been responding to.
Raymer said the numbers of properties crews have been closing are much higher now than they were 10 years ago.
She said the department is looking to build a program to support those people.
Raymer said inspectors have been sent out to check on unhoused people.
“There are 22 very complex individuals that are very well known to them that are absolutely refusing supports, but they’ve come to a solution together on what is acceptable because they want to live rough.”
She noted that these individuals need to be safe, but so too do the surrounding communities. Raymer said it is a balancing act.
Raymer stressed that one organization cannot fix these issues alone, adding that a whole community approach is needed.
The event had several other leaders take to the stage, with Dr. Morris Markentin from Westside Community Clinic, Angela Sereda from Medavie Health Services and Saskatoon Tribal Council Chief Mark Arcand all speaking.
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