Saskatoon’s response to homelessness came under scrutiny Wednesday, as residents and advocates questioned last week’s clearing of a large encampment. A Governance and Priorities Committee meeting, originally scheduled to discuss funding options for the city’s outdoor washroom project during budget deliberations, turned into a lengthy discussion about the city’s approach to encampments. The discussion follows the clearing of an encampment at Avenue K South and 20th Street West last Thursday. “I felt it was a great injustice to people who had created a community together, who were helping one another,” said Valerie Senyk, a retired professor. “Within an encampment, individuals are gathering together because they face the same pressures of systemic troubles and they create support systems for one another,” said Chloe Olson with the Red Bear Party, a local advocacy group. Many speakers called for more action to address homelessness, raising concerns about the treatment of unhoused people in Saskatoon. City Manager Jeff Jorgenson said the city confirmed there was shelter space for the roughly 120 people living at the encampment before it was cleared. The Saskatoon Fire Department also said residents were offered support. Jorgenson agreed more housing and support services are needed, but said encampments are not safe places to live. “We know that centralized encampments have rampant and open drug use,” he said. “We know of reports of exploitation of people in the encampments. We know of reports of gang presence and activity in the centralized encampments.” The fire department also presented photos showing bullets, drugs, needles, propane tanks and rotting food at the site. Homelessness advocate David Fineday said he believes the encampment was safe and residents worked to keep it clean. “I had to walk out of there. I don’t know where they got their stories from,” Fineday told reporters during a break. “We had our own cleanup crew. We had rakes. We had bags to clean up the garbage.” Mayor Cynthia Block said the concerns raised at city hall highlight the need for change. “We are using the tools that we have as a municipality, knowing that those tools are insufficient to move to the level that we need to start to see change in our community,” Block said. “In my view, that means we have to stop doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.” Block said she and council are working with all orders of government to find a way forward.
