After a nearly nine-hour city council meeting on Tuesday, Halifax councillors were unable to find a new site for tent encampments to free up Grand Parade and Victoria Park.
Coun. Waye Mason, who was one of the four who voted for tents to be moved to the Halifax Common, said the municipality is in need of immediate relief from the non-designated encampments at Grand Parade and Victoria Park, which are quickly becoming a public safety hazard.
But after Tuesday’s council meeting, Mason isn’t so sure the municipality will find the relief.
“I don’t see leadership from the council and the mayor to actually making a decision and allocating more spots,” Mason told Global News on Wednesday.
“The way the policy is supposed to work, the CAO is supposed to designate spots, and we’re supposed to accept it (inside of our policy), but that hasn’t happened.”
In 2022, the municipality established five designated locations, which were supposed to provide space for 44 tents. According to the municipality, a count on Aug. 14 found 90 people living in them.
Halifax Mayor Mike Savage voted against putting a tent encampment inside the Common but said he “understands” the pleas from Mason.
During Tuesday’s council meeting, Mason pleaded with other councillors, noting that dozens of tents are sitting in encampments in his downtown district.
But 12 of the 16 councillors voted against a recommendation from the municipality’s director of housing and homelessness, Max Chauvin, to allow tents in two locations on the Halifax Common.
“I don’t know what happens next,” Mason said.
“I don’t know how we’ll get to more designated sites. What is going to happen is people are going to the tent where they want, and because we haven’t created alternatives, we don’t have a legal way to say, ‘You can’t be here, you have to go there.’ We need designated sites.”
Wade Tanner, who lives in a tent in downtown Halifax and has medical conditions, told Global News earlier this week that he was desperate for help.
“I’ve been going everywhere, going to get some help. They just pass the buck, that’s the way I feel, everybody is passing the buck. Go to this agency, go to that agency and nobody is doing anything,” he said.
“I want a place that I can go and get peace and not cause any problems and not have anybody in my face all the time. You know, I just want somewhere to go.”
Councillors did pass other motions, which included leasing private property, using municipal surplus lands and looking to campgrounds and outdoor facilities for sheltering.
Councillors voted unanimously to ask staff for a report exploring the feasibility of purchasing and installing pre-fabricated structures.
“There’s no short-term fix,” Chauvin said.
“The solution is a commitment to build and operate deeply affordable housing.”
Chauvin said staff are starting talks to get more space available to move some of the people who are unhoused. The municipality is already looking at leasing more spaces and considering surplus land and campgrounds.
In a statement to Global News, the province said more work needs to be done to address homelessness in the city.
According to a spokesperson from the Department of Community Services, they’re set to work with the municipality on finding new solutions to address homelessness.
— with files from Global News’ Rebecca Lau