“There were people on the streets who weren’t going to go to a shelter that night because they wanted to stay together …”
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A middle-of-the-night walk to meet some of Saskatoon’s unsheltered people offered a closer perspective on the issue, a city councillor says.
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David Fineday, a local friend and advocate for homeless residents, invited city councillors and the mayor last week to “go on a field trip at 2 a.m.” to talk with the people who are so often talked about.
Ward 3 Coun. Robert Pearce took him up on the offer.
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“Him and I just got to be two men on the street,” Pearce said after Wednesday’s city council meeting.
“Two human beings helping other human beings. It was incredibly powerful in that capacity.”
Earlier this week, Pearce and Fineday went out between the hours of midnight and 2:30 a.m. to hand out some hot chocolate and talk with people. They drove around the city, even providing a few rides, and stopped in at St. Mary’s Parish and the Saskatoon Indian and Metis Friendship Centre.
Pearce said he plans to take more trips with Fineday, and wants to encourage anyone else — city council members or the general public — to learn more about the situation.
“I realized I agreed to a challenge to go through one of the most dangerous parts of the city to talk to some of the most vulnerable people and be guided by someone who is legally blind,” Pearce said.
Fineday has been calling for more Indigenous-led supports, arguing that facilities like the Saskatoon Tribal Council’s Emergency Wellness Centre are needed throughout the city. Pearce has called for its removal from his ward, citing its impact on the surrounding community.
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His late-night experience added to his concerns around homelessness, Pearce said.
“A lot of it centres around the real root causes of homelessness, which is affordability, which is financial support, which is relationship issues which seem to cloud people’s ability to stay in a proper place.”
The St. Mary’s and Friendship Centre facilities separate men and women. Pearce suggested a shuttle system between them to attempt to accommodate couples. Separating couples reduces problems for the centres, but it needs to be further discussed, he said.
“There were people on the streets who weren’t going to go to a shelter that night because they wanted to stay together and it was a warmer night.”
Those who choose to stay together on dangerously-cold nights could be making a fatal decision, Pearce said.
“People are going to die. It’s cold out, there are issues happening … We keep talking about delays with budget and needing to do things quicker and better, because people die regardless.”
He said the city can be doing far better, but noted that the current situation at the warming centres is an improvement from last winter.
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City council sees the crisis unfolding, knows that it needs to be addressed, and needs to lobby the provincial government to step up, he added.
“A lot of this is funding they need to bring forward.”
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