Edmonton mayor calls special meeting to declare housing emergency

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Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi has called a special meeting of council for January 15.

On Thursday, Sohi made the announcement, saying he’ll motion to declare a housing and houselessness emergency in the city during the meeting.

“Recent actions at encampment clearances may not be in line with our commitments to upholding reconciliation, and our obligation of care in communities across the city,” he said in a statement.

“We are at a breaking point. I hear your calls to change how we are handling encampments, caring for our unhoused neighbours and improving the safety of communities impacted by encampments.”

Those clearances and closures have caught the eyes of many and have received constant criticism across the board.

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“The entire country is watching in horror as the police have violently swept encampments in extreme cold temperatures over the past few weeks,” Bradley Lafortune, Public Interest Alberta’s executive director, said in a statement.

The Edmonton-based non profit said that the decision to declare an emergency is a step in the right direction, however, it would be useless without an action plan.

“We need real solutions like minimum shelter standards, investments in wraparound supports, an evidence-based and comprehensive harm reduction strategy, a robust housing-first strategy, and rent control in order to truly solve this crisis,” Lafortune said.

If city council approves this emergency declaration, Sohi said his first action will be to invite Provincial Minister Jason Nixon, Federal Minister Sean Fraser and Grand Chief of the Confederacy of Treaty 6 Cody Thomas to join him in an emergency meeting so all levels of government can sit at the same table and take action together.

Of the approximately 3,000 unhoused Edmontonians, 60% are Indigenous.

“Indigenous people are disproportionately represented in our unhoused population and among those who are in core housing need,” said Sohi.

“We need coordination of planning, immediate increase in investments, and human-centred and reconciliation-focused action.”

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