City of Edmonton declares a housing and "houselessness" emergency

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The City of Edmonton has declared a housing and “houselessness” emergency.

During a special meeting of council on Tuesday, City Council voted 9-4 in favour of a motion made by Mayor Amarjeet Sohi, where the status was officially formalized.

The special meeting of council was announced last Thursday by Sohi, who, at the time, said he’d motion to declare an emergency due in part to what he’s been seeing regarding the clearances and closures of encampments in the city.

“We are at a breaking point,” he said at the time.

“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.”

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The decision comes as many around the province and the country were watching and reacting to the weeks-long situation surrounding encampment closures in Edmonton.

As the closures continued to unfold, Sohi said the way it was all being handled “might not be in line with our commitments to upholding reconciliation.”

During the meeting, council also voted in favour of other motions that are intended to address the housing and houselessness situation in Edmonton including:

Inviting the Government of Canada, the Government of Alberta and the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations for a meeting to discuss collaborative solutions to the emergency.
Establishing a task force that consists of community leaders that will work toward housing in the city and allocate $3.5 million from the Community Safety and Well-being Reserve to act as seed money to innovate and attract additional sources of funding.

“Is this an emergency? Absolutely. Are these other components necessary? Yes,” said papastew Ward Councillor Michael Janz.

“This motion, and the attention that it’s driven already, is a chance to have a frank conversation.”

Declaration is “performative”: provincial government

In response to the decision to declare an emergency, Rick McIver, Alberta’s Minister of Municipal affairs, said it was “disappointing” that the City made such a decision, and added that the provincial government will be announcing an action plan in the coming days.

“It is disappointing that the City of Edmonton would choose to issue a performative declaration suggesting an emergency and implying a lack of response from our government,” McIver said in a statement.

“It is important to clarify to Albertans that this motion does not have any legal implications, authority or binding force.”

Prior to the vote and the special meeting, Minister Jason Nixon also expressed criticism of the meeting, and of Sohi’s comments as a whole.

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