In a blog post published yesterday, Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said he has called a special meeting of City Council Monday to ask for a declaration of a housing and homelessness emergency in the city.
The United Conservative Party Government was clearly not happy with this development and published a statement criticizing Mayor Sohi and denying the seriousness of the problem a couple of hours after the blog appeared.
With the outside temperature dipping below -30 Celsius yesterday and forecasts calling for colder temperatures in the next few days, Mr. Sohi indicated dissatisfaction with the continuing encampment clearances by the Edmonton Police Service and city staff.
“Recent actions at encampment clearances may not be in line with our commitments to upholding reconciliation, and our obligation of care in communities across the city,” Mr. Sohi wrote. “I had hoped that the changes that were made to the High-Risk Encampment Response after our meeting with members of the social sector, EPS and City Administration would have addressed some gaps, but it is clear more changes are needed.”
“If City Council approves this emergency declaration,” the mayor wrote, “my first action will be to invite Provincial Minister Jason Nixon, Federal Minister Sean Fraser and Grand Chief of the Confederacy of Treaty 6 Cody Thomas to join me in an emergency meeting so all levels of government can sit at the same table and take action together.
“Declaring an emergency on housing and houselessness will be useless without fast and meaningful action,” he continued. “We need coordination of planning, immediate increase in investments, and human-centred and reconciliation-focused action.”
“The time for talk is over, we need coordinated action now.”
The provincial statement from Deputy Premier Mike Ellis, a former Calgary police officer, spun the cold-weather clearances as an effort to help the homeless.
“Alberta’s government cares deeply about vulnerable Edmontonians and we will always ensure that anyone who wants shelter and supportive services will receive it,” Mr. Ellis said.
“However, we will not stand by and watch as vulnerable Albertans and the general public continue to be extorted, taken advantage of and killed by gangsters and deadly drugs,” he added hyperbolically, setting the stage, one supposes, for the UCP’s planned involuntary drug treatment legislation.
The government statement included a comment from Mr. Nixon, who is the minister of seniors, community and social services, taking direct aim at Mr. Sohi. “It is dangerous for the mayor and others to continue to suggest that vulnerable Albertans do not have anywhere to turn. This is false and will lead to more folks choosing not to seek out shelter because they fear they’ll be turned away.
“There is safe space in shelters around the city and nobody will be turned away,” Mr. Nixon continued. “We have more than enough room for every homeless person in the city of Edmonton to have a warm, safe place to stay.
“It is completely inappropriate and dangerous for the mayor, or anyone, to suggest Edmonton is out of capacity in our social services sector or our emergency shelter systems. Anyone needing shelter space will be kept care of.”
This was presumably the government’s response to Mr. Sohi’s argument that Edmonton’s longstanding housing crisis has escalated to an emergency and that “there are many reasons why an unhoused Edmontonian might not access a shelter.
“They may be in a relationship and don’t want to be separated from their partner, may have pets, or may have important physical belongings they don’t want to part with,” the mayor said. “I have heard these stories directly from unhoused individuals, and these concerns are valid.” (Emphasis added.)
“Although it is true that crime is occurring, public discussions have stigmatized and criminalized poverty,” Mr. Sohi said elsewhere in his blog. “Being unhoused must not be criminalized. This perception is making it harder for partners to house people who need it.”
“Implementing Minimum Shelter Standards will be a key area where intergovernmental collaboration is needed,” Mr. Sohi added. “I will focus part of the discussion with Minister Nixon and Minister Fraser on how we can support shelter providers to adopt Edmonton’s Minimum Shelter Standards.”
Of course, the province is unlikely to look positively on the idea of minimum standards for housing those most in need, because it would cost money and run contrary to the view common in UCP circles that prosperity is evidence of virtue.
Mr. Ellis’s message touted the work of the government’s Edmonton Public Safety Cabinet Committee, which, he promised, will make a “more detailed” public statement after the courts have ruled on the effort by advocates for unhoused Edmontonians to have the removals declared a violation of the Charter rights of people who depend on the camps for shelter.
Ed Broadbent, March 21, 1936 – January 11, 2024
It was sad to learn today of the death of Ed Broadbent, the scholarly and gentlemanly leader of the NDP from 1975 to 1989 who saw the party rise to first place in Canadian polling, but never at election time.
Accolades poured in from supporters and former colleagues after Mr. Broadbent’s death was announced by the research, analysis and training institute founded in his name in 2011. (He was always Mr. Broadbent, his PhD from the University of Toronto notwithstanding.)
“In the twenty-first century, the rebuilding of social democracy must be our task,” he was quoted saying in the Broadbent Institute’s statement. “Social democracy alone offers the foundation upon which the lives of people everywhere can be made dignified, just, and exciting.”
Mr. Broadbent’s farewell speech to the House of Commons illustrates his approach to political discourse. “Give some thought,” he advised his fellow MPs on May 5, 2005, “to the decline in civility that has occurred in the House of Commons, that occurs daily in the Question Period. I think if I were a high school teacher I wouldn’t want to bring high school students into the Question Period any longer. … Give some serious thought that there’s a difference between personal remarks based on animosity and vigorous debate reflecting deep differences of judgment. And see what can be done in the future to restore to our politics in this nation a civilized tone of debate.” …
Alas, that was not to be. One can only imagine what would be said in a place like Alberta today about a fine leader like Mr. Broadbent, who was both a professor and a vice-president of the Socialist International! It is to shudder.
May he rest in peace.
The UCP are good at being hypocrites, contradicting themselves, and misleading people. This is a good example of that. The UCP were throwing a childish hissy fit, over the federal Liberals, when they didn’t like them telling them about environmental regulations (which happens to also fall under federal government domain). Here the UCP are, believing they can dictate to municipalities in Alberta, like the city of Edmonton), and tell them how to run things. How does the UCP think there is adequate support for the needy in Alberta, after they drastically cut back their support? In addition, there isn’t a full amount of shelter bed space in Edmonton, as the UCP would like people to believe. That’s because the homeless population in the city is far greater in number than available shelter bed spaces that are there. At one estimation, 3000 homeless people are in Edmonton. Well over 1000 people would be denied access to these shelter beds, because of the difference. Furthermore, Take Back Alberta is clearly behind this cold hearted move. Under the UCP, they want a police state, and have something akin to a dictatorship. Also, the UCP has been quite good at wasting so many billions of dollars on foolish scandals, that they have to take it out on others, including the ones that are the least able to defend themselves. The Alberta PCs were the same way, because they allowed us to be robbed of the oil and tax wealth that Peter Lougheed had been collecting, and did so many pricey scandals themselves, and took it out on the poor, public healthcare, public education, senior citizens, and infrastructure. Ralph Klein was largely responsible for doing that. Albertans have learned nothing, by giving the UCP another term, and it certainly won’t get better with Danielle Smith as premier. Reformers are great at creating misery and suffering. In fact, Reformers are the enemy of Conservatives. The UCP fit the description of what Peter Lougheed warned us about getting involved with.
Thank you “Anonymous.” Regarding TBA-Reform-UCP-Con wanting a police state. Any farmer or rancher who has dealt with the Gov. of Ab and its energy regulators can tell you a police state is exactly what we’ve had for 30 or more years. I can only remind my urban friends and readers here that the first people the Italian fascist dictator Mussolini went after were the independent landowners. Then he went after better organized civil society groups including the unions. Just like the fascists here in Alberta.
The impunity the oil and gas sector has exercised against farmers and ranchers is now being applied by the UCP to the homeless, doctors, nurses, teachers, the poor, and unions, to name a few. How much longer will this go on? It has been nearly 40 years and counting in rural Alberta.
Finally, a voice of reason appears in the cold. Thank you Mayor Sohi. My only hope is this endeavour does not get bogged down in UCP deserving poor dogmatism, or other Preston Manning 19th century poor laws relief cruelty.
RIP and thank you to Ed Broadbent, gentleman, scholar, and humanitarian.
It is -46°C. with the wind chill this morning as certain politicians try to justify ripping away rudimentary shelter, sleeping bags and blankets from the unhoused living outdoors in Edmonton, in the name of “protecting” them. Things are so bad that Parachute for Pets in Calgary is providing shelter for unhoused animals, in the hope that their humans will seek shelter themselves. Shelters don’t accept pets. Pet shelters don’t accept humans. Do we need a human humane society?
Mayor Sohi’s actions are desperately needed and overdue, although likely too little, too late. Death and suffering by those living unhoused and outdoors in Alberta right now seems inevitable.
UCP, I see your cruelty and utter lack of conscience. It is completely inappropriate and dangerous for you to stand by and do nothing.
Very hard to think of trying to survive in cold temperatures like we have. Where I live it is minus 25. How on earth can people be outside?
Ed Broadbent was one of the best.
When I was under 30, a long time ago (sigh), Ed Broadbent convinced me to be a socialist. I am over 60 now, still an avid socialist. Ed Broadbent showed me that politicians were just regular people while the others behaved like movie stars.
This is an attempt to undermine elected municipal representatives. Municipalities have no need of dedicated ‘public safety cabinet committees’. More hypocrisy from a party whose members regularly suggest that the federal government stay in its own lane. This could be an early salvo in a scheme to fire mayors and city councils and replace them obedient UCP faithful or TBA followers, the distinction between either is becoming increasingly muddy. Payback time from someone who lost a gig on the Calgary Board Of Education and took the whole shebang with her.
This is a great idea to sit down and discuss solutions. Invite the mayors from other cities in Alberta with similar issues. This is leadership. Now if only the UCP hadn’t wasted $80 million on fake Tylenol we could have used this on people without homes. Also if the police knew gangs were in these camps – why didn’t they do anything about it. Rant over.
Shannon: “If the police knew gangs were in these camps – why didn’t they do anything about it.” This is one of the key questions of this whole tragedy and in my opinion gives the lie to EPS’s claims to have the interests of homeless Edmontonians at heart. If someone broke into your house or mine and we phoned the police, I don’t think we’d have to worry that the police would respond by saying, “Sorry, your yard’s a dangerous mess. Shovel the walk and and get those low-hanging bird feeders out of the tree and we might come over and investigate.” They don’t give a hoot. They just want to move the homeless on. It’s the Alberta way. Who can forget Ralph Klein giving mentally ill homeless people bus tickets to Vancouver – that’s probably where that little creep Ron DeSantis got the idea. Who says Alberta isn’t a world-class jurisdiction? OK, that’s my rant. DJC
The boys at Progress Alberta must be freakin’ out about the EPS, their number 1 frenemy.
If the EPS wanted to do something about the cities gang problem, they probably want to start with an internal
Sweep, not an encampment sweep. Edmonton Police Service is as corrupt as the day is long, just ask Mohammed Shah, oh wait you cant, someone shot him.
Shannon. Flint: The UCP have wasted far more than $80 million. They have done scandals galore, many which have cost us billions of dollars.
Thank you DC, as always!
Re the Sohi statement. Better late than never. The UCP response is simply infuriating. It’s clearly an attempt by the TBA-inspired cabinet to do an end run on Edmonton’s city council, with the connivance of the chief of police. City council needs to stand firm. Mayor Sohi’s idea of a multi-level meeting is a good one. Undoubtedly the UCP will boycott it. So much the better.
Re UCP’s planned involuntary drug treatment legislation. It needs to be said again, that anyone who works in the courts or mental health care knows that many, perhaps most, of the unhoused on Edmonton’s streets are already accessing mental health and addiction services from AHS. They are on the streets because there are not enough mental health and addiction beds to accommodate all those in treatment. Please remember that the last new mental health hospital beds in Edmonton were opened 36 years ago (Grey Nuns) when our population was about half what it is today. The UCP overturned plans by the NDP government to start construction of a new Edmonton hospital, so that is now at least 10 years off. Any new hospital in Edmonton with psychiatric beds will open, at best, nearly 50 years after Grey Nuns.
Re Ed Broadbent. A huge loss. I may be one of the few people remaining who voted for Ed Broadbent (albeit on the last ballot) at the NDP’s national convention in Winnipeg in 1975.
Would it be something if those who find themselves homeless were to organize into a powerful political group? Can you imagine? Tax the rich. Provide a living income for everyone. Make companies pay benefits. Hold businesses accountable for any misdeeds, including making businesses pay for creating pollution. A moratorium on right winged media. Calling as spade a spade and pointing out the hypocrisy of religious groups. Affordable and healthy food – putting taste and health back into growing and producing food. Promotion of community endeavours, including the arts. Well, the above mentioned is juxtaposed to everything today’s conservatives want (I am certain that some unhoused people are conservative too) which is the creation of a fascist and unbridled cruel and corrupt fanatical dictatorship – which is exactly what we have here in Alberta under the UCP.
Our post modern pretzel logic government of fools, clowns and trolls, actually thinks that mindless cruelty is a winning brand.
Ed Broadbent would be at the top of my list of best prime minister we never had, followed, more or less in order, by David Lewis, Bob Stanfield, and Tom Mulcair. I am too young to have much of an opinion on anyone before about 1974.
Oh, the pantheon of progs. Never much bothered by the question of “who does what to whom”. Lewis’s active elimination of anyone actually proposing alternatives to an economy owned by a rentier class borders on the absurd. Stanfield was a free-trader, and spin it as he and his fart-catchers may do, Mulcair absolutely said,
“A government should never pretend it can replace the private market. It does not work, it didn’t work in England. Up until Thatcher’s time, that’s what they tried, the government stuck its nose everywhere.”
Never mind that the government in the UK was confronting a rentier-class assault on democracy that culminated in the overthrow of Wilson, as far-right plotters tried to figure out how to install Mountbatten as the head of a military junta. Conspiracy theories!
Canada will miss Mr Broadbent and the compassionate, no-nonsense approach he took to politics. Endeavouring to make life better for all Canadians rather than playing divisive zero-sum politics, which has become the norm for the reform-conservatives seems to be out of fashion these days. I’m hoping the federal New Democrats will re-embrace the approach he pioneered and Mr Layton perfected.
“However, we will not stand by and watch as vulnerable Albertans and the general public continue to be extorted, taken advantage of and killed by gangsters and deadly drugs,”
Perhaps the above quote is merely an example of the tried and true reliance on, “A moral panic (that) refers to an intense feeling of fear, concern, or anger throughout a community in response to the perception that cultural values or interests are being threatened by a specific group, known as folk devils. Moral panics are characterized by an exaggeration of the actual threat posed by the perceived folk devil. . . . . Moral panic is a situation in which media reporting has created a folk devil of a particular social group, and the public demands the authorities that something be done about it. This expression of concern is described as a moral panic because it is based on an outraged sense of offense to public standards of behavior. However, the information which prompts it is often limited and inaccurate.”
https://www.simplypsychology.org/folk-devils-and-moral-panics-cohen-1972.html
Or, the interests of the powerless in society continue to be displaced in favor of the interests of the economically powerful and privileged. Uncomfortable realities, in the eyes of the powerful, are better off hidden away, unseen and unheard, or compartmentalized in controlled ghettos, intellectual or social as the case may be.
“More than 1,400 drug poisoning deaths recorded in Alberta last year”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/more-than-1-400-drug-poisoning-deaths-recorded-in-alberta-last-year-1.6722057
“At least 2,095 Albertans died of COVID in 2022, roughly matching the death toll from 2021”–https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-covid-19-death-toll-in-2022-calendar-year-1.6706278
Perspective and nuance also mean that, “While safety is part of the motivation, avoiding crowds, chaos and unhygienic conditions in downtown shelters and camps, and a preference for simply being left alone, are also major factors in deciding to live in areas without support services. . . . “When I asked some of these individuals who are living in these far-away camps, why they selected those spaces, given that there is no services, one person put it really succinctly, said ‘I’d rather be here and hungry but safe than well-fed downtown but be potentially attacked’,” Urbanik said.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/why-some-homeless-edmontonians-choose-to-camp-outside-the-inner-city-1.7080215
Perhaps the privileged and powerful in this society need to take the opportunity to go and spend a week or two in a homeless shelter, a vacation as it were. It might both change the conversation dynamics and open some eyes. Perhaps.
Now that Mayor Sohi is colouring outside the TBA lines by rightfully declaring an emergency, I can guess that the TBA will commence their punishment of Edmonton starting tomorrow and set their sights on ousting Sohi from now until the next municipal election.
The UCP’s “Cabinet Committee” was clearly nothing more than window-dressing. Otherwise surely Mayor Sohi would have been included. Instead we have police, city bureaucrats and others who so far don’t seem overly-sympathetic to the plight of our community’s most vulnerable citizens.
Let’s hope the Mayor’s call for a broad-based response to this crisis does not go unheard.
DJC: “The provincial statement from Deputy Premier Mike Ellis, a former Calgary police officer, spun the cold-weather clearances as an effort to help the homeless”.
The above brings to mind what a US General said about a Vietnamese village during the Viet Nam war: “It became necessary to destroy the town to save it.”
It’s amusing that the powers that be are pointing their fingers of blame at each other, while not caring about the state of the homeless in the first place. The political football that no one wants. Delightful.
Ed Broadbent was a good person. He also according to an acquaintance, had a very good sense of humour. When the Broadbent Institute was created it my thoughts were, now there is competition for the Fraser Institute. As Michael, above, writes, Ed Broadbent was the best P.M. we didn’t have. Recall when he was considered the most trusted political leader in Canada. Canada was fortunate to have had him as a leader. He made a positive differance to Canada.
To bad the UPC and Police Chief of Edmonton couldn’t be charged and arrested if any one whose tent was removed died. Even if the charge didn’t stick, just arresting them would give them a taste of what they are dishing out.
It is cold outside and forcing people out of their tents is cruel, but that is the point for these UPCers. What the UPC and the police chief are doing is punishing those without houses/condos for their lack of money.
Perhaps the UPC and the police chief think people will consider their actions as instigated by city hall, which would leave all the blame on the Mayor and Council. Its just politcal theatre. Notice it isn’t going on in other parts of the province.
Some fo these UPCers consider themselves christian. They need to stop deluding themselves. They are evil, mean spirited people who might want to remember, what goes around can come around.
It is quite the juxtaposition between Broadbent, from an era when there could be vigorous debate without being completely nasty and personal, and Nixon. I can not remember a time when a provincial minister called out a municipal mayor by name and took personal shots at his character, and it shows the level that civil discourse has sunk to in this day and age. The fact that Nixon felt it necessary to highlight that Sohi was recently – gasp – vacationing in Hawaii is also very telling of how the right puts this unrealistic expectation on progressives that you must live the life of a monk in order to have your views taken seriously. What better way to show that Sohi is a champagne socialist, jetting off to foreign lands, unlike Nixon who`s a proud provincial patriot who prefers to spend his vacations poaching a deer or three here in good ol`Burda. Sigh. Makes me pine for the days when adults were in charge and politicians actually worked together. Uh oh…..looking to the past through rose-coloured glasses…..does that make me a (gulp) conservative