Alberta, feds reach $70M deal for homelessness response, no cash for Medicine Hat

The deal will see Ottawa provide the province $35 million over the next two years, which the Alberta government says will be matched with its own funding.

The agreement between the two orders of government was initially reached last fall but with no dollar figures attached.

Provincial and city officials in Medicine Hat have come under increased pressure from residents who criticize the way they’ve tackled the challenge of homelessness.

MLA Justin Wright, who is part of a new community task force that aims to address homelessness, said he’s looking into other ways to get financial support.

“I am currently working closely with Minister Nixon’s office to find solutions for the challenges facing our community, including exploring additional funding opportunities,” Wright said in a statement to CHAT News.

“While Medicine Hat was not included in this particular funding announcement, these ongoing discussions are focused on addressing our specific local needs.”

A spokesperson for the Alberta government in a response to a CHAT News inquiry pointed out the new bilateral agreement “predates any of the recent changes to Medicine Hat’s shelter system.”

When asked about smaller cities outside of those announced Tuesday, Nixon said the provincial government is

“We are already, as a province, getting well beyond the seven largest cities — we have to,” Nixon said.

“The homeless situation is changing in rural Alberta the same that it has anywhere in the province.”

Nixon said the intention was to get the funding in place urgently in the two largest cities.

He also pointed out that Alberta is different than other provinces because its municipalities are spread out and far apart, unlike the Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, for example.

Nixon said he advocated for funding to include other municipal centres but that federal housing minister Sean Fraser was unable to “pull it off for all the cities at once, which is fair.”

“But he got Lethbridge and Red Deer done with us to show that we need to then move forward together,” Nixon said.

He said the Alberta government is already investing in municipalities across the province.

Nixon said solutions used in large municipalities like Edmonton won’t work in smaller, more rural municipalities like Rocky Mountain House.

“We’re going through a process right now where we have conversations with the communities to see what that looks like, whether that’s partnering more with FCSS, whether that’s using different type(s) of assets that already exist inside those communities,” Nixon said.

The Alberta minister also pointed to a provincial homelessness panel co-chaired by MLA Wright he said is focused on “the next stage of how we tackle homelessness.”

He said a report from that task force will include recommendations on how address the issue across the board, including in rural communities.

Edmonton Liberal MP Randy Boissonnault said at Tuesday’s new conference the only way to tackle homelessness is if all levels of government work together, and this agreement is a significant step toward that goal.

“Eliminating chronic homelessness is everybody’s business, and it’s going to take a co-ordinated effort to get it done,” Boissonnault said Tuesday.

“With today’s announcement, we’re going to see that fewer people than ever are going to call the streets home.”

CHAT News has contacted The Mustard Seed, an organization that runs a homeless shelter in Medicine Hat, for comment.

The non-profit was in January denied permission from the city’s planning authority to add 20 overnight beds to its North Flats site.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect a response from the Alberta government.

by Canadian Press, CHAT News Staff

Alberta, feds reach $70M deal for homelessness response, no cash for Medicine Hat

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