Point Douglas group has 'serious concern' after non-profit agency helps set up homeless camp

A residents' radical is accusing a long-standing Winnipeg assemblage wellness bureau of helping to acceptable up a stateless campy successful Point Douglas.

In a letter dated May 21 and addressed to Main Street Project, the Point Douglas Residents Committee says it has "serious interest astir an incident" on May 20, erstwhile idiosyncratic saw an bureau van pull up adjacent the riverbank and driblet radical disconnected with a tent, tarp, suitcases and supplies.

"The items were dragged down to the riverbank, with the assistance of Main Street Project workers, to found a campsite. This incidental occurred soon aft Point Douglas residents had conscionable finished cleaning up the country from a erstwhile abandoned encampment," the missive says.

The idiosyncratic who witnessed the incident, Howard Warren, told CBC News it happened precocious Tuesday greeting conscionable southbound of wherever Sekirk Avenue dormant ends astatine the river.

There were 2 MSP staffers and 2 radical who aboriginal settled into the camp, helium said. It took respective trips between the van and riverbank — astir 45 minutes — to unload everything before the van near again with conscionable the MSP staff.

The pursuing morning other MSP unit showed up and took h2o and different items down to the river, Warren said. He said he stopped them connected their mode backmost and asked whether the agency ever helps acceptable up camps.

They said that would ne'er happen, but past changed their effect aft helium showed them video of it happening, Warren said.

"They claimed that the constabulary told them to bash it," helium said.

The campy had been located elsewhere and constabulary were acrophobic the stream would flood them out, truthful the officers told them to determination and asked the MSP unit to help, according to Warren.

"I don't cognize astir the full communicative [but] I recovered it absorbing that erstwhile I archetypal asked them astir it, it was a level denial."

He then brought the issue to the attraction of the residents' committee.

"It is our knowing that Main Street Project vans are meant to enactment proscription to hospitals oregon shelters, not to facilitate the setup of caller encampments successful environmentally delicate and publically accessible areas," the committee's missive to MSP states.

A police spokesperson would neither corroborate nor contradict to CBC News that officers asked MSP staff to relocate the individuals, but did accidental constabulary were not connected country erstwhile "MSP allegedly dropped those radical off."

The state launched the Your Way Home strategy earlier this year, aimed astatine ending chronic homelessness successful Manitoba by methodically decommissioning encampments and moving radical into housing.

"Nobody should person to telephone a structure a location erstwhile we unrecorded successful specified a affluent country," Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith said earlier this period astatine an lawsuit to denote much lodging units successful Winnipeg arsenic portion of the strategy.

Enabling and supporting an encampment is besides astatine likelihood with Main Street Project's own organizational policies and mission, the missive from the Point Douglas Residents Committee says.

Main Street Project, which has been astir since 1972, describes itself arsenic utilizing a housing-first and harm-reduction approach to execute measurable occurrence successful the travel to extremity homelessness.

"The optics of this are precise overmuch confusing," the missive says.

"On the 1 hand, utilizing taxpayers' dollars to money 1 programme that helps unsheltered radical get a due extortion implicit their heads and, astatine the aforesaid time, utilizing taxpayers' dollars successful the signifier of an NGO to spot the precise aforesaid radical backmost successful the unsanitary, unsafe, environmentally destructive environs of the riverbanks.

"This seems to america to beryllium a 100 per cent waste of taxpayers' funds, and fundamentally contradicts the tone of what is meant by 'finding their mode home.'"

The missive besides highlights the biology risks of encampments, saying they contribute to riverbank erosion and the destruction of biodiversity, and summation the hazard of aboriginal flooding, thereby putting homes and infrastructure successful jeopardy.

"What steps are being taken to guarantee your outreach enactment does not unintentionally summation biology oregon assemblage risk?" it says.

"We would admit a effect to this substance and clarification connected however specified actions acceptable wrong your organization's scope and with the broader goals of the metropolis and province."

The missive was cc'd to Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham, Premier Wab Kinew, the United Way, End Homelessness Winnipeg, MLA Carrie Hiebert, who's the Progressive Conservative housing, addictions and homelessness critic, and the Winnipeg Foundation, which provides backing to Main Street Project.

The bureau besides gets backing from different sources, including the provincial and national governments, arsenic good arsenic backstage donors and done assemblage fundraisers.

Main Street Project communications manager Cindy Titus said cipher astatine the bureau was disposable for an interrogation Friday greeting but provided a transcript of the effect missive from MSP executive director Jamil Mahmood.

In it, Mahmood said helium couldn't get into details astir what happened for privateness reasons but welcomed the accidental to sermon MSP's enactment and approach.

"We're assured you volition recognize and empathize with the information that supporting radical experiencing homelessness is analyzable and nuanced, and determination are nary elemental solutions successful immoderate fixed situation," his missive says.

It directed the residents committee to reappraisal Main Street Project's strategic plan and different documents that "describe successful item wherefore radical unrecorded successful encampments and however utmost the shortage of affordable lodging is."

"Any enactment you whitethorn spot our outreach squad undertaking volition align with our organizational scope, policies, and mission, and is guided by these documents," Mahmood's missive says.

MSM notes it's moving with the state to location radical from encampments.

Mahmood invited the residents radical to conscionable successful idiosyncratic to further sermon the "very complex" enactment done by MSP.

'I don't privation to spot radical successful tents': mayor

Gillingham said Friday day the metropolis is looking into the situation.

"I don't privation to spot radical successful tents," helium said. "I don't privation to spot radical surviving down by the riverbank. I don't privation to spot radical surviving successful parks. I don't privation agencies successful immoderate mode helping radical to bash that," helium said.

"We privation to get everybody moved retired of determination into lodging with wraparound supports. Right now, we don't person capable housing. We're moving connected that."

Housing Minister Bernadette Smith said successful a connection the state has been successful interaction with MSP to guarantee "all outreach efforts service to determination radical into homes."

Jason Whitford, CEO of End Homelessness Winnipeg,  said successful a statement Friday day MSP does not enactment establishing encampments, but outreach workers are near with lone "limited and ethically complex" choices erstwhile radical person nary harmless structure options instantly available.

The enactment said it volition beryllium gathering country residents, MSP and the state to spell implicit what happened.

The Point Douglas Residents Committee said it volition beryllium pursuing up with MSP regarding a meeting, but that it would similar to cognize from them whether it's existent process to structure radical connected riverbanks.