URGENT ACTION NEEDED - Stop Halifax Council criminalizing homelessness
Faced with threats from Halifax City Council, our unhoused neighbours need your support.
This online tool allows you to mass email Halifax City Council, members of the provincial government, and HRM-based and housing-related politicians at all levels of government.
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Our unhoused friends and neighbours need support from government - not more violence and criminalization.
A new city staff report on homelessness is being voted on by council on Tuesday May 3. This report threatens violent evictions and further criminalization of our unhoused friends and neighbours if they refuse to be forced into inadequate, government-mandated encampment sites.
The report permits forcing unhoused community members into 16 outdoor locations for overnight sheltering. Anyone who refuses will be forcefully removed or face arrest.
5 locations allow multi-night stays.
11 locations are open from 8pm-8am (so people will be forced to pack up and leave each morning).
All sites will have a max of 4 people.
As of now, there are at least 562 unhoused people in the region, but HRM's “solution” only accounts for 64 of those individuals.
Even if unhoused residents wanted to stay in these locations (council wouldn’t know since they didn't consult with people experiencing homelessness), they lack the capacity. Therefore new encampments will inevitably arise and people will be harassed and criminalized under this directive.
The report offers another option to these encampment sites: allow people to shelter in municipal parks - a power council has had this entire time. In the midst of a housing emergency, without any current alternatives for hundreds of people in our community, allowing people to seek shelter on public land isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s the only option people have.
Our unhoused friends and neighbours need your help to change council's plan before their meeting on Tuesday. Urge them to select the alternative option to avoid further marginalization and suffering. Permitting unhoused neighbors to shelter safely is critical until we have a long-term solution that houses everyone.
