Regina to receive $2M to combat homelessness – but solutions still needed

Members of Regina’s Executive Committee said provincial dollars for homelessness supports are welcome but aren’t a solution to the issue.

The committee voted to recommend accepting just over $2 million from the provincial government for community outreach and extreme weather spaces.

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The funding could be renewed each year following a review.

If council approves the proposal at its Sept. 9 meeting, the money this year would be divided between four organizations that provide supports:

• $700,000 to the Nēwo Yōtina Friendship Centre for its Seven Fires extreme weather space;
• $398,000 to All Nations Hope: Awasiw, again for an extreme weather space it provides;
• $550,000 to Carmichael Outreach to operate its own extreme weather space; and
• $391,445 to the new Community Outreach Team, which is replacing the now-defunct Regina Street Team.

“This is a sign that we’re starting down a path of a better relationship with the provincial government,” deputy mayor and Ward 3 Coun. David Froh said. “We appreciate the increased funding, in particular over multiple years. It’s going to help make sure that ideally people don’t freeze to death this winter.”

However, Froh said the work is just beginning.

Deputy mayor and Ward 3 councillor David Froh says housing and more supports are longer-term solutions to homelessness. (Geoff Smith/980 CJME)

“What’s needed is additional housing, housing first, barrier-free access, wraparound supports, and until we have enough of that, the problem will continue to get worse,” he told reporters.

An administration report says there are gaps in housing, especially permanent supportive housing.

“This gap tends to intensify the pressures in shelters and extreme weather spaces, ultimately leading to an increase in entrenched encampment sites,” it says.

Committee members were told it was once estimated that solving homelessness in Regina would cost $110 million.

Froh responded that there’s only one taxpayer.

“We are addressing homelessness, mental health, and addiction with our hospitals, with our jails and our alleys,” he said, “and it costs us way more as a society to play around the edges of addressing the symptom of this issue.”

City also anticipating funds from Ottawa for transit

The executive committee is also recommending that the city negotiate an agreement with Ottawa for transit funding.

The city has received conditional approval for up to $2.4 million a year for 10 years from the Canada Public Transit Fund Baseline Funding.

That money can be used to provide up to 40 per cent of the cost of a transit-related capital project, such as new buses.

While the city would have to provide the remaining 40 per cent, administration told council the funds would be applied to already-budgeted projects.

“What this allows us to do is use some federal dollars for things we had budgeted for anyways,” Froh said. “So it allows us to make sure that Regina is more connected, that we advance our sustainability plan, and that we can get people around in an affordable way.”

The report does caution that after March 2029, any buses purchased using the funding will have to be zero-emission vehicles such as battery-electric buses.

However, administration said that condition might change before then. In the meantime, the city has committed to buying diesel-hybrid buses.

Froh added that the money can be used for other capital needs such as bikeways and sidewalks. The report also includes bike racks, shelters and maintenance facilities as eligible projects.

Delegation from Normandy welcomed at meeting

The committee welcomed a delegation from Normandy, France.

The Up the Johns! Association is a group that pays tribute to the members of the Regina Rifles who were part of the D-Day invasion to liberate France in 1944.

The group provides lodging and transportation to members of the regiment who take part in D-Day commemorations in Normandy.

The Up the Johns! Association is a group that pays tribute to the members of the Regina Rifles who were part of the D-Day invasion to liberate France in 1944. (Geoff Smith/980 CJME)

“Today, we are honoured to have 16 members visiting Saskatchewan, many for the first time, to see where these soldiers came from, where they lived, worked, and had families,” Mayor Chad Bachynski said.

“As part of their mandate, they care for the graves of our fallen, organize ceremonies, and educate future generations about the sacrifices made by the Regina Rifles.”

Bachynski told the group Regina is grateful and honoured by the friendship.

Their itinerary this week includes a museum tour at the Regina Armoury, a demonstration at CFB Dundurn, and a tour of the Legislature.