‘It’s going to become a ghetto’: Parker pushes for enforcement
By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on August 10, 2022.
Herald photo by Al Beeber
Councillor Ryan Parker discusses his reasons for not supporting a plan to look into using the old Civic Centre curling club as a location for a temporary sober shelter. Parker also has concerns that if action isn't taken against the homeless camp in that area, the number of tents could increaseLETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com
City councillor Ryan Parker thinks Lethbridge needs to take stronger action against residents of homeless camps.
And the long-term councillor believes the city should be willing to stand up against any legal challenge to such action.
Parker was opposed to a motion that was passed by a 6-2 vote Tuesday calling on administration to apply for development of a temporary sober shelter at the old Civic Centre curling club.
Parker said in council chambers and at a media scrum the homeless need housing and supports but there also needs to be the ability to enforce bylaws.
“We have trespassing occurring on a daily basis and even when you put up the signs, there’s no enforcement occurring,” said Parker adding he disagrees with those who feel the city doesn’t have a right to enforce its bylaws. Parker also told council he supports increasing funding for the police.
“I believe people need appropriate shelter. There’s no doubt about it. But you shouldn’t be able to just take shelter anywhere you want in the city or the municipality. That’s why we have a shelter. We do have adequate room right now,” said Parker.
“So I think it’s incumbent upon us as a corporation as well as the Lethbridge Police Service to enforce the laws that are in place,” said Parker.
Parker said from what he’s been told numerous people do have home addresses.
“They’re not actually homeless; they’re people at risk – there’s no doubt about it and they deserve shelter – but the definition of somebody who is homeless is somebody who doesn’t have an address,” added the councillor.
He said he’s been told that a lot of camp residents have come from Medicine Hat, Calgary and beyond but ‘we still have a responsibility to take care of them, no matter who is in our community.
“But I just don’t think what’s happening right now is that tent city is the appropriate location.”
He said by empowering the Civic Centre area as an interim space for the homeless “I think it’s going to become a ghetto. Straight up, it’s going to become a ghetto. Right now we have appropriate services on Stafford (Alpha House), it does need some investment, no doubt about it, to make sure these people at risk are taken care of.
“But right now, you’re going to create two areas” and he’d rather put resources into one location.
“I don’t think we should allow something like that to occur. A lot of other cities don’t allow it. Don’t get me wrong, you’re going to see it throughout all communities but not to this extent. As soon as you have 40 tents, you’re going to have 80 tents and after 80 tents you’re going to have 120 tents.
“And that’s what I think is going to occur. I think we need to take care of the people that are risk,” added Parker.
“Even though they say it’s provincial responsibility, I think we as civic leaders do need to help these individuals. But if you’re going to do it, you’ve got to do it right,” said Parker.
Parker said the current shelter needs an investment “and we need to really advocate for our provincial partners and federal partners to get the funding in place and make it permanent. I think Blaine, the mayor, (has) done a good job in advocating but we also need to work with our local MLAs, both West and East to get funding, as well as our MP.
“But having a blind eye to say we can’t do anything about what’s going on here, we don’t have the legal jurisdiction, I challenge that . . .and I think a lot of people in the community challenge that. We can help clean up this site and get these people in the appropriate location, not in that area but in the place we’ve already designated money provincially and locally,” said Parker.
He said many communities have created a campus area to help those in need so “we don’t need to reinvent the wheel. What we need to find out is what other municipalities have done across North America who have dealt with these issues and making sure there is an appropriate campus” with services including a sober shelter, addictions counselling, soup kitchen and housing.
Director of Community Services Mike Fox told media the idea of a sober shelter has been “contemplated for several years now and it’s one of the areas of continuum of care to help people get into housing. That’s an important need in our community.
“The province’s responsibility is for shelter space for the vulnerable population and also for housing so by the council initiating a location that it is possible to go in will allow us to further dialogue with the province,” said Fox.
Fox said a group was formed under past council’s direction called the Social Services Integration Group to look into “the much-needed services that Lethbridge needs and locations in the city.”
Fox said the City worked with that group for just over a year and SSIG made multiple recommendations to council. Those were further refined and will be brought forward again in September.
One recommendation was for a temporary sober shelter. A permanent one will take more time because of things like zoning requirements and the need to construct a building.
SSIG considered the curling club as a temporary location, said Fox, because “they thought that was a good idea to have an interim solution to get people into a shelter sooner than later. When we were looking at this, we were under a little bit of pressure as the cold weather was approaching last year and we worked with the province and got enough shelter space for last year.
“And that’s where the key is enough shelter space but also for transitional housing and other types of housing to get people out of the weather and start on the continuum,” added Fox.
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I agree 100% with you Councillor Parker!
The most successful programs that included Targeted Community Crime Reduction Programs have zero tolerance for drug use or encampments, backed up with offers of alternative housing and if refused, they are charged, Drug courts with effective treatment programs with over 80% success rates are effective and crime rates dramatically lowered along with fatal overdoses and numbers of addicts.
Harm reduction is a myth and a failure. No one has been able to successfully deploy all the pillars that make it successful! Encampments are a by-product of the addiction or cause of the addiction!
A sober shelter will only take a few off the streets, since many who state they would use the sober shelter, won’t or some use this as an excuse to remain where they want to be, where they think they don’t have to follow any rules and can freely break the laws with impunity.
We are developing a lawless society that will continue to cost society through out their lives. I was talking to a teached that quit because they just couldn’t accept the behaviours they now have to deal with in class and accept anti-social behaviours knowing it will impact the child’s life. One example was children allowed to be ‘furries’ often wearing a tale, identifying themselves as an animal, which includes sniffing others behinds.
The world has gone mad! We are developing a lawless, deranged group that will continue to wreak havoc in society and we have to get back to the basic law and order concepts that saved lives, created mutual respect for each other and is exceedingly lower in costs to the taxpayer.