UCP minister tells Edmonton mayor he can forget about seeing anyone from the province at a summit on homelessness

Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi can forget about seeing Jason Nixon – Alberta’s minister of seniors, community and social services – at the summit on housing and homelessness he hopes to organize with provincial, city, First Nations, and federal leaders.

Indeed, Mr. Sohi shouldn’t expect anyone else from the United Conservative Party Government to be there either, judging from what Mr. Nixon had to say at a Calgary news conference yesterday after he announced a one-time increase in operating funds for low-income housing operators. 

Federal Housing Minister Sean Fraser and Confederacy of Treaty 6 Grand Chief Cody Thomas can come if they like, but the provincial cabinet’s point man on homelessness dismissed Mr. Sohi’s plan to hold a special meeting of Edmonton City Council on Monday and ask councillors to declare a housing and homelessness emergency as “bizarre” and “just a complete political stunt.”

“I’m not interested in political games when it comes to this issue right now,” Mr. Nixon said in response to a reporter’s question. “When it comes to his bizarre decision to talk about having a state of emergency that will have no effect, that will not help any individuals that will be in trouble, that will not create any political resources, that is just a complete political stunt. We’re not interested in that.

“If the mayor is prepared to actually come and continue to do real work, we’ll be interested of course in working with him,” Mr. Nixon added. “But just going through political motions that have no impact are a waste of time.”

That seems pretty definitive. It suggests that the relationship between Mayor Sohi, a former federal Liberal cabinet minister, and the government of Premier Danielle Smith, whose go-to strategy on any issue is to blame Ottawa when anything goes wrong, can fairly be described as on the rocks. 

Mr. Nixon, making sure he pointed out that Mr. Sohi was on vacation in Hawaii when the blog post calling for the emergency city council meeting was published, characterized the mayor’s statements about the lack of space in Edmonton shelters as “appalling” on the grounds it might discourage homeless people who need to get out of the cold to come to a shelter. 

Mr. Nixon also accused Mr. Sohi of failing to take the time to be briefed by his own officials about their discussions with the province on how to deal with “the unique circumstances that are taking place in encampments in Edmonton.” 

This, of course, diverts attention from the fact there is a real crisis of both homelessness and affordable housing in the city, and that leaders of all levels of government need to address it.

In a thread on social media today, Ward Nakota Isga Councillor Andrew Knack countered many of Mr. Nixon’s statements, urged him to work collaboratively with council and other levels of government, and called on him to apologize for “behaving in a way that is not up to the standards of those serving the public” by commenting on the mayor’s vacation. 

But the UCP Government obviously has its reasons for not wanting to take part in an initiative planned by Mayor Sohi, especially one involving federal officials. 

The Smith Government’s most obvious political consideration is that it doesn’t even want to admit there is a crisis, because calling it that is an admission of failure.

It’s also no secret the government is opposed on ideological grounds to solutions that might help, such as temporary rent controls or requiring developers to include low-income housing in more profitable upscale developments. 

Obviously, there is no chance that the UCP would ever admit that the root cause of the crisis, which is neither drugs nor crime, is the financialization of housing and increasing disparity of income seen throughout the Western world.

Also to be considered is the UCP’s undoubtedly accurate perception of what much of the party’s base wants: Doubling down on street clearances that move the homeless to someone else’s back yard and unconstitutional and coercive mandatory addiction “treatment” as advocated by former UCP premier Jason Kenney and Premier Smith’s chief of staff. 

In addition, as Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver stated clearly on Nov. 20, the Smith Government is determined not to allow any federal funds for housing go directly to municipalities.

To be fair, it is probably reasonable for the UCP to fear that municipalities might use federal funds to implement effective solutions that do not fit the government party’s hard-right ideology, or that the federal Liberals could get credit for anything that might reduce the chances of a Conservative victory in the next federal election.

As in all matters, the Smith Government wants any federal cash coming Alberta’s way in UCP hands to use as they please.

Well, at least no one has yet suggested putting homeless Albertans on buses and sending them across the Rockies to be dropped off in downtown Vancouver. 

Lest readers think this is a reference to the kind of cruel stunt cooked up by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis or Texas Governor Greg Abbott, there is no need to look that far from home for such perverse inspiration. 

It was the now-sainted Alberta premier, Ralph Klein, who is said circa 1993 to have offered welfare recipients from Wild Rose Country one-way bus tickets to B.C. Who knows, perhaps Alberta is the inspiration for Messrs. DeSantis and Abbott’s heartless pranks?

As for Mr. Nixon’s assessment of Mayor Sohi’s plan for a four-level parley as a bizarre political stunt, that seems ironic under the circumstances. 

Albertans, after all, are quite familiar with the concept of bizarre political stunts – and spending $80 to $100 million on substandard Turkish children’s medicine just to own the Libs in Ottawa fits the definition quite nicely. 

Where are the police when they’re actually needed in Edmonton’s homeless camps? 

One of key justifications used by the Smith Government and the Edmonton Police Service for continuing the campaign to bust up homeless encampments in Edmonton’s downtown core during a brutal cold snap is that the camps are dangerous hotbeds of crime and gang activity. 

No one is pretending that sleeping on the street, especially in a cold climate like Edmonton’s, is not dangerous.

The puzzle is, as a reader put it in the comments section yesterday: “If the police knew gangs were in these camps, why didn’t they do anything about it?”

This is an excellent question. Are the police afraid to enforce the law and protect citizens’ rights in encampments? Or can they just not be bothered because the campers are too poor to have any influence and their better-off neighbours want them moved along? Or is there some other reason. 

Think about this: What would happen if police refused to answer an emergency call to a private residence in an Edmonton suburb because the homeowner hadn’t paid her property taxes or her back deck violated the requirements of a city bylaw?

“Sorry, ma’am, we can’t do anything about that burglar until you pay your taxes and fix your deck!”

Absurd, you say? 

Well, if that’s absurd, why isn’t it reasonable for the police to enforce laws against extortion and robbery in a similar situation where the resident in question is squatting on public land? 

Or consider the situation in on May 24 or Labour Day in Alberta’s provincial parks. People sleep there in tents too, and sometimes take drugs or consume alcohol to excess. But if you call the park rangers or the local police, there’s no question that they’ll come and deal with problems as a matter of routine. 

So what is it about homeless encampments that makes them appropriate targets for brutal clearance sweeps but completely inaccessible for routine law enforcement? 

I think we all know the answers to these questions.