Lethbridge City Hall. (Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Provincial funding for $11.2-million rehabilitative housing project in Lethbridge “under review”

Jul 10, 2019 | 2:14 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Any change in provincial governments inevitably means that all previously-promised cheques are no longer a guarantee.

Back in December 2018, the Alberta NDP announced $1.6-million for a new intox treatment centre at Lethbridge’s homeless shelter and $11.2-million to build a rehabilitative housing complex. More details here.

Funding for the intox treatment centre has already been given to the Alpha House for their 30-bed facility, and Mayor Chris Spearman hopes construction on that will be able to begin shortly.

“What’s under review is the $11.2-million for supportive housing where we can move addicts who have mental health issues into a living facility,” says Spearman. “Those people are currently accessing the Supervised Consumption Site (SCS) and that would remove them from the street. Their needs would be met in a supportive housing facility.”

He says the news that the funding is under review is particularly frustrating because the City of Lethbridge has been advocating for it for at least the last five years, and after finally getting an announcement, they are once again faced with uncertainty.

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In terms of addictions services, Spearman adds that the only major facility Lethbridge has is the SCS, but there is not much that can allow people break the cycle of addiction and get help.

Since mental health and addictions falls under the jurisdiction of health care, which is a provincial government responsiblity, Spearman says the City of Lethbridge cannot do much to fund the facility themselves.

Press Secretary for the Seniors and Housing Ministry Natalie Tomczak wrote to Lethbridge News Now that Minister Josephine Pon recently met with Spearman and representatives from 16 municipalities about the upcoming 2019 Budget.

“In July, a letter was sent to Mayor Spearman outlining that capital priorities for Budget 2019 are under review, recognizing the importance of safe, secure and affordable housing,” reads the letter. “We acknowledge that this is a priority project and as part of the budgeting process, we are reviewing all capital projects to ensure we are getting the most value for taxpayers’ money… We are going through our expenses line by line to bring balance back to our province’s finances and our government expects to table the 2019 budget this fall.”

LNN reported Tuesday that Spearman is set to meet with members of the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions on Wednesday to talk about potential solutions to the drug crisis in the city. More details here.

Spearman says the matter of funding the rehabilitative housing project will definitely be raised.

LNN has reached out to the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions for further comments, but we have not heard back from them at the time of publication.