By Lethbridge Herald on July 21, 2023.
Alejandra Pulido-Guzman
Lethbridge Herald
This week the City of Lethbridge was visited by a contingent of government officials and among them was Minister of Seniors, Community and Social Services, Jason Nixon who stopped in Thursday.
During an event hosted by the Green Acres Foundation, Minister Nixon spoke to the media about his visit and said he was very impressed with the Lethbridge Shelter and Resource Centre.
The shelter is operated by the Blood Tribe Department of Health.
“It is a high priority for our government to bring in Indigenous-led shelters inside areas where we’re seeing homelessness, including Lethbridge,” said Nixon.
He said government is looking into doing the same in Edmonton and after seeing the shelter here in Lethbridge, he was left convinced that doing the same in the provincial capital would be the right thing to do.
“We cannot solve the homeless situation that we see in most of our major cities without clear partnerships with Indigenous communities, and we’re working towards culturally appropriate shelter systems that can actually help people move on the road to recovery,” said Nixon.
He said making sure that we have a social services system that can help people leave poverty, leave the prison of addiction and end up in a successful place where they can enjoy quality lives remain the highest priority of the Alberta government.
“We don’t want to see people remaining homeless or addicted to drugs, and our government is committed to continue to invest at an unprecedented rate to be able to make sure that we move our province on a path of recovery, to be able to help people who are suffering from things like addiction and homelessness,” said Nixon.
He said Lethbridge is a high priority for the provincial government and it can expect to see many Ministers coming to visit in the near future to support the city in its many endeavours. Follow @APulidoHerald on Twitter
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