Advocates for homeless Winnipeggers persuade councillor to withdraw public hoarding motion
Fears proposed bylaw would have allowed city to penalize people living in bus shelters, encampments
A Winnipeg city councillor plans to withdraw a motion calling for restrictions on hoarding in public spaces, after some advocates warned it could be used against people who live in bus shelters and encampments.
Coun. Shawn Nason (Transcona) initially put forward a motion to have city staff enforce restrictions against hoarding in public areas like transit shelters and encampments.
Advocates from Main Street Project and End Homelessness Winnipeg who spoke at a Friday meeting of city council's East Kildonan-Transcona community committee said the motion conflated people who live with a medically recognized hoarding disorder and people who simply have nowhere else to put their belongings.
"How do we distinguish between the mental health aspect and someone who has their whole life in two bags?" asked Jacob Kaufman, an outreach worker with Main Street Project.
Kaufman, who has experienced homelessness, said allowing city staff to remove items in any way wouldn't be helpful.
"I remember I came here with a backpack and a sleeping bag in –40 C weather 23 years ago with nothing. That's all I had," he said.
"If someone tried to take that away from me, I would have fought. And I would have been punished in some way for protecting my few meagre belongings."
Nason said he wanted to start a solutions-based conversation at city hall, while balancing the issues his constituents have brought up.
"The visible challenges month after month are very visible in our bus shelters," said Nason, and that doesn't seem to be changing "when we see people taking up space in there, blocking off entrances and not leaving."
In the end, Nason said he plans to withdraw the motion. He said he will review a report from an Ontario region that focuses on hoarding and homelessness, and plans to return to committee in March with new ideas.
'I personally wouldn't let a pet stay' in some shelters
Linda English, the manager of homelessness prevention with the non-profit End Homelessness Winnipeg, said the bylaw would interfere with all the "rights-based, trauma-informed" work her team, city staff and first responders are doing.
She said she believes more resources are needed to help people who are hoarding, but that a bylaw should "not apply to folks who have no place to store their things."
"I'm worried about this bylaw being used punitively for our unsheltered relatives," she said.
English said the issue of people living in transit shelters is a symptom of a lack of housing in Winnipeg. She cited some hotels on Main Street with units used as shelter for those who live in poverty and need housing.
"I personally wouldn't let a pet stay in there, never mind a human," she told the committee.
"I don't blame people for living in a bus shack. It's horrendous."
In an email, Families Minister Rochelle Squires said the province will continue to work with federal and municipal governments "to address the urgent housing challenges in Manitoba."
She said the province has made significant investments in housing, including more than $50 million to support those who are homeless and $12 million to upgrade and expand affordable housing options.
All delegates who spoke at Friday's council meeting said more resources are needed to address hoarding issues in Winnipeg.
That included Morberg House and St. Boniface Street Links founder Marion Willis, who said a bylaw that would allow enforcement officers to enter a household or area to address a imminent problem would be helpful.
She said her teams have helped several people by intervening in hoarding situations.
"This isn't an attack on people who are homeless. There is an opportunity to address some of the … collection behaviours around encampments to remove fire loads," she said.
"It isn't to take away people's belongings."
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