Encampment and Housing Call to Action
On June 15th, Councillor Sarah Hamilton and I hosted a community conversation with our Park Rangers team on the topic of encampments and housing. For a starting point on what our conversation included please head to my May blog. You can also watch that meeting using this link.
The municipal government is the front-line for housing policy, and governs zoning, land use, and rules around building types and density. Municipalities are not the provincially-designated authority for addressing homelessness.
The role of the provincial government is to dictate how housing is developed and managed, to provide funding for housing initiatives and shelter supports, and to govern emergency shelters, mental health and addictions, and social supports.
The federal government is key in providing incentives for affordable housing, leading via the National Housing Strategy and other frameworks, governing the corrections system, and funding Indigenous and northern communities.
What is the City of Edmonton doing to help?
The City of Edmonton and our partners are working together to directly connect people experiencing homelessness to supports and housing. Some of the specific City initiatives underway include:
Community Plan to End Homelessness
Corporate Homelessness Plan (in process)
Affordable Housing Strategy
Community Safety and Wellbeing Strategy
Transit Safety Strategy
While City Council has invested hundreds of millions into affordable housing over the last decade, I want to specifically share some of our most recent actions starting from the beginning of the term.
The City of Edmonton and its partners have been leading community efforts to create more affordable housing in Edmonton. Since the municipal election on October 18, 2021, City Council has approved $96.9 million in operating and capital funding. As of April 30, 2023, $7.1 million of that total has been disbursed leaving a remaining sum of $89.8 million of committed funding that will be allocated as the project milestones and agreement terms are met.
These investments are guided by the Affordable Housing Investment Plan (2023-2026), which was developed to provide the basis for maintaining the significant momentum of the previous plan and to best position the City of Edmonton to leverage as much funding as possible from other orders of government.
One common question we received from residents at our meeting was “How can I help?” which brings us to our following call to action.
Advocate!
For more affordable housing, more shelter beds, for minimum shelter standards, more mental health and addictions support, and equitable Indigenous, rural, and northern social supports funding.
Please consider personally writing to some of the government representatives listed below and ask for their help to meaningfully address this crisis. Including your local MLA or MP is critical so that they are aware of your concerns and they can also help advocate for complete solutions.
Although City Council is regularly raising this with other orders of government, it’s important that they hear from you directly. You can send the message to all of the people listed below and please consider adding the specific reasons why you are reaching out to them. You can use information in the first link on this post if you are wondering where to start.
I believe we share common goals between all orders of government but I am not sure that everyone is aware of the severity of the situation. When the representatives below hear from you, that will go a long way in helping to affect positive change.
Provincial Representatives
Minister of Mental Health and Addictions - Dan Williams - mha.minister@gov.ab.ca
Minister of Health - Adriana LeGrange - health.minister@gov.ab.ca
Minister of Seniors, Community and Social Services - Jason Nixon - SCSS.minister@gov.ab.ca
Minister of Municipal Affairs - Ric McIver - minister.municipalaffairs@gov.ab.ca
Minister of Children and Family Services - Searle Turton - cs.minister@gov.ab.ca
MLA Sarah Hoffman - Edmonton-Glenora - Edmonton.Glenora@assembly.ab.ca
MLA Lori Sigurdson - Edmonton-Riverview - Edmonton.Riverview@assembly.ab.ca
Federal Representatives
Minister of Housing - Ahmed Hussen - ahmed.hussen@parl.gc.ca
Minister of Health - Jean-Yves Duclos - jean-yves.duclos@parl.gc.ca
Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations - Marc Miller - marc.miller@parl.gc.ca
Minister, Associate Minister and MP Randy Boissonnault - Edmonton-Centre - randy.boissonnault@parl.gc.ca
MP Kelly McCauley - Edmonton-West - kelly.mccauley@parl.gc.ca
