City of Lethbridge moves to clean-up homeless encampment

The homeless encampment has been the scene of a recent shooting, and there was also evidence of drug use at the site during Wednesday’s clean-up.

Needle near homeless encampment in South Lethbridge, August 3, 2022. (Photo: LNN)

In July 2022, Lethbridge City Council approved $230,000 to help deal with encampments. The funding was meant to aid administrative and policing efforts, and expedite what the City called ‘compassionate clean-ups’ at local sites.

Fox said Wednesday’s clean-up effort is part of the city’s ongoing plan to deal with the growing encampment issues.

“The City is continuing to do what we have set out to do,” said Fox. “As we stated several months ago, when an encampment becomes entrenched, there’s dangerous activity that starts to happen, and safety issues that develop in an encampment setting that can be a risk to people in the encampment, but also to the general public.”

LPS and other agencies gather at the homeless encampment in South Lethbridge August 3, 2022. (Photo: LNN)

Despite the risks, encampment resident Margie Spear Chief said most of the people living there have no where else to go.

“Where are we going to go? Where is everybody going to go? Nobody has income. You know, half of the people here don’t have income to live,” said Spear Chief. “All we do is try to get a roof over our heads and food in our fridge, and you know, I know there’s a lot of resources out there for people to help us, but, you know, like I’m sad to see this happening right now.”

Fox says the City of Lethbridge gave 24-hour notice to the residents prior to moving ahead with the so-called ‘compassionate clean-up’ effort.

“This isn’t the first time that we’ve tried to encourage people to move on,” said Fox. “The only difference on this one is, on the civic site, it is under a petty trespass act instead of being under the parks bylaw or streets bylaw. So, there’s a little bit of a different process and that’s why the notifications were put out.”

The Executive Director of the Lethbridge Soup Kitchen, Bill Ginther, says serving 24-hour notice is not a compassionate way to deal with the residents.

“I would hope that people would show a bit more real compassion,” says Ginther. “Not compassion on paper, not to say, look, we’re being compassionate. We’re not, we’re giving them a 24 hour notice. Like, instead of recognizing people as people. These are people just like you and I.” He continued, “If you don’t have anything, no place to go, what are you supposed to do? Like, ask yourself what would you do? And then show some compassion to people and treat them with respect that they don’t get nearly enough.”

Spear Chief said living on the streets is a hardship that many people simply can’t comprehend. “I’ve been living outside for 15 years. And, you know, it’s a struggle,” she said. “Sometimes the shelter is too full or they put us somewhere else, and the kitchen, that’s too full. If they’re both full, then we have to sleep outside.”

Spear Chief has a message for those who may not understand the reality of their daily lives. “I would just say, walk a mile in my moccasins, and try this for at least six months. Let’s see how you can deal with it, without water, and being kicked out, not being able to use the washroom. It’s not right, you know, we’re being treated like we’re nothing.”

She says the encampment has become a place where homeless residents can go when they have nothing else they can rely on. “I have no parents. Both my parents passed away, so I have nobody to really rely on but friends that I know. Down here, we call each other brother and sisters. That’s what we are here for, family.”

Ginther from the soup kitchen said despite the City’s efforts, “Encampments are going to happen guaranteed.” He said, “If there’s no housing, there’s no support, you’ve got to be somewhere. So, you’re going to set up a camp.”

Ginther thinks the City of Lethbridge should set up a controlled encampment. “Find a place where you can set up the encampment. The City owns property for that, could be used for that. Set it up and set it up in such a way that it’s monitored. It can be can be properly controlled or patrolled or both, and I think that would be the answer. Otherwise, we’re just moving people around and they’ll move into people’s backyards, they’ll move into back alleys, and this is probably a safer place to be than other places where they might go.”

Homeless encampment in South Lethbridge, August 3, 2022. (Photo: LNN)

The one thing all sides seem to agree on is the need for affordable housing.

At the City Council meeting July 26, 2022, Lethbridge Mayor Blaine Hyggen proposed an initial motion calling for a total of $700,000 in funding from corporate budget contingencies to aid in this work.

While $230,000 was approved by council for use, the remaining $470,000 was sent back to administration to provide more details on how funds would be allocated in relation to encampment issues, and what else can be done aside from encampment clean-up.

Other proposed clauses in Hyggen’s initial motion were a part of a unanimous referral to a future special meeting of City Council, where more information will be presented.

They include the following proposals:

– The creation of a local community task force to gather key partners together for a community view of the complex issues around encampments.

– City Council writing a letter to the ministries of Seniors and Housing, Community and Social Services and Mental Health and Addictions. The letter would request the formation of a provincial/City of Lethbridge working group to collaborate on medium and long-term housing and homelessness solutions that will ultimately address the issues regarding encampments.

A date for the special meeting to discuss those clauses has not been set yet.

In the meantime, the City of Lethbridge continues to work with the LPS and outreach agencies to work on the issues surrounding homeless encampments in the city.

As for Wednesday’s ‘compassionate clean-up’, despite the ongoing efforts to remove the tent city, the homeless encampment was still standing at the Civic Arena site Wednesday evening.

by LNN Staff

City of Lethbridge moves to clean-up homeless encampment

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