People in Regina mark one year anniversary of the 'city's failed promise to end homelessness'

People in Regina are calling on the city to do more when it comes to eradicating homelessness.  

It's been a year since city council unanimously voted to direct city administration to figure out how much it would cost to end homelessness in Regina. According to meeting minutes published on the city's website, administration was to have that cost "clearly demarcated in a line item of its own" in the city's 2023 budget.

When administration released a preliminary budget document in November, it estimated $122.5 million was needed to implement a housing-first model to address homelessness, but did not recommend it, citing the high cost of the project to the city's residents.

Regina city councillors Andrew Stevens and Dan LeBlanc and well-known social activist Florence Stratton launched a lawsuit calling for city manager Niki Anderson's office to be compelled to include a line item describing the cost of ending homelessness in the 2023 city budget.

They seeked a judicial order directing the city manager to include an estimated $24.9 million in the proposed budget to end homelessness. 

The lawsuit was dismissed on Dec.14 and no money was allocated to end homelessness in Regina in the city's 2023 budget. 

On Thursday evening — local volunteers and activists fed members of the community as part of a gathering at Pepsi Park in downtown Regina to commemorate the one year anniversary of what they call "the city's promise to end homelessness." 

At its peak, there were more than a 100 people waiting in line to get food.  

Tiro Mthembu, owner of The Hampton Hub — a Regina restaurant — and one of the gathering's organizers, said he served 95 burritos in 15 minutes. People are providing free meals out of necessity, he said.

"Our community members suffer with their [the City of Regina's] inaction so we want to see the city step up to the plate," Mthembu said. "All levels of government need to be involved in helping our most vulnerable community members."

The homelessness crisis in Regina has only gotten worse since the city council's vote last year, he said.

"We've seen it get exponentially worse throughout the city and you can't avoid it in the [downtown] core," Mthembu said. 

Choosing Pepsi Park as the spot for the commemoration was an intentional decision by the gathering's organizers. It used to be the location of Camp Hope — a tent encampment that was home to more than 100 people at its peak —before being dismantled in November 2021. 

The city announced it would be moving the residents to a temporary shelter, but a Camp Hope organizer told CBC News that organizers and Regina Treaty/ Status Indian Services staff had to help some former residents find alternate shelter because the facility the city was moving residents to was full.

Mthembu said people were planning to stay at Pepsi Park all night to showcase the severity of the homelessness crisis in Regina but police and bylaw officials stepped in late Thursday night. 

Organizers and attendees packed up all the supplies and moved in front of Regina's City Hall. Breakfast was served there on Friday morning and about a dozen people were there on Saturday calling on the city to make ending homelessness an urgent priority.  

"I think that the city needs to be witness to what's going on," Mthembu said on Friday. "Pepsi Park is surrounded by a lot of the resources, same here, we have the wrap-around support at [YWCA Regina] across the street."

"We want the people upstairs to look down to see what our neighbours are facing right now. It's a crisis." 

Earlier this month, a Regina family's tent encampment on a property in the Heritage neighbourhood was dismantled on June 7. 

Regina's Mayor Sandra Masters said the city has made it clear that homeless encampments are not the solution.

"I believe what we've learned from across the country … is that tent encampments are not the solution," Masters said on June 9. "They also create significant risk to the folks who stay there once it creates a critical mass." 

"I believe administration and Regina Fire and Protective Services and the Regina Police Service will be working on some parameters for how to move forward."