St. Boniface homeless advocate frustrated by search for permanent shelter

The head of a homeless outreach group in St. Boniface is frustrated with how long it's taking the City of Winnipeg to find the group a building for a 24/7 safe space.

On Thursday, city council's community services committee received a report updating council members on work to expand homeless shelter spaces in Winnipeg.

It notes the city is working on a temporary agreement with St. Boniface Street Links to lease a building that will become available Dec. 1.

But executive director Marion Willis says that's too late.

"We should be in that building right now," Willis said in an interview.

"Dec. 1? Lord only knows what the weather is going to be like by Dec. 1."

Winnipeg currently has no permanent homeless shelter east of the Red River.

The report doesn't specify which building the city has identified as a potential location for St. Boniface Street Links, but the city's chief administrative officer, Michael Jack, confirmed in an interview it is a vacant city-owned building at 604 St. Mary's Rd.

Last December, the city partnered with Street Links to open a temporary warming shelter in at that location, after a woman was found dead in a bus shelter.

The St. Mary's building was later declared surplus, and a request for proposals has been issued seeking potential buyers.

Earlier this year, the city approved funding to four organizations to open or expand 24/7 safe spaces, including $250,000 for Street Links to negotiate a no-cost lease of a city-owned property for a shelter in or near St. Boniface.

After searching its inventory, however, the city concluded the only suitable property was 604 St. Mary's Rd.

"There may be a misconception that the City of Winnipeg has a large inventory of good, suitable, well-appointed vacant properties, but that isn't the case," Jack said.

Willis wants the city to cancel its request for proposals and halt the sale of the building.

Jack says Street Links is welcome to bid on the building, but any buyers will likely need to make at least $1 million in repairs.

Community services committee chair Evan Duncan agrees that he'd like to see the shelter space up and running sooner.

"At this point in time, I don't think it matters which building it is, as long as there is a building [where] we can potentially provide these folks some reprieve when it is –25 outside in our winter months," the Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood councillor said.

Willis said the lack of a shelter space is beginning to have a negative impact on St. Boniface Street Links' partner organization, Morberg House — an addictions recovery centre operating out of the Street Links property on Provencher Boulevard.

"We have no ability to support anybody at this point," she said. "It's terrible. We're back to Square 1, where there's absolutely no infrastructure to support anybody living homeless in St. Boniface."

Willis says she's exploring options with a potential partner to buy the St. Mary's Road building.

The deadline for proposals is Dec. 1.

Proof of address for rec programs moves forward

A motion was also passed at the community services meeting that could require people registering for city-run Leisure Guide recreation programs to show proof that they live in Winnipeg. 

The motion, introduced by Transcona Coun. Russ Wyatt, says there is demand for recreation services from people living outside the city, but the online registration system currently has no way of requiring proof of address.

Currently, non-residents pay a 20 per cent surcharge when registering.

If passed by council, the motion would require proof of address, and impose penalties for providing a false address, starting when the next contract with the third-party online registration service begins in 2026.

It would also increase the surcharge for non-residents to 100 per cent of the cost for Winnipeg residents.

The motion was passed unanimously and moves on to council's executive policy committee later this month.