Alternate location considered for Halifax Remembrance Day ceremony due to homeless encampment

The growing homeless issue in Halifax may be having an impact on this year's Remembrance Day ceremonies in Grand Parade.

CTV News has learned officials are scrambling to come-up with a plan for the event, which usually brings thousands to the cenotaph.

A homeless encampment at the site has been in place for months, with more than 20 tents counted there Tuesday.

Another significant event has already moved: this year's Fallen Peace Officers’ Memorial which will take place at RCMP headquarters in Dartmouth.

"The decision was made to move the Memorial Service to Dartmouth in an effort to be respectful of those who are experiencing homelessness and are currently sheltering at Grand Parade," said Halifax Regional Police public information officer Cst. John MacLeod via email.

"This year, the Nova Scotia Fallen Peace Officers’ Memorial Service Organizing Committee has decided to hold the Memorial Service near the Wall of Honour, located outside the Nova Scotia RCMP Headquarters, at 80 Garland Ave. in Dartmouth.

"While this granite memorial wall honours RCMP members who have fallen, the Memorial Service will remember all peace officers across Nova Scotia who have died in the line of duty.

"The Honour Roll will be read during the ceremony and wreaths will be laid in remembrance of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice," said MacLeod.

Remembrance Day ceremonies are still up in the air with no formal decision yet, although the hope is to host the ceremony where it's always been held.

"Our goal is that we can move some of the folks out to a better solution for them. Winter is coming, and I know the province is working on this as well, in terms of finding full-time and better places for these folks to live," said Halifax Mayor Mike Savage.

"If that's not the case, then we'll have to look at other alternatives."

Savage acknowledged the issue presents a challenge.

"We want to make sure, because of the importance we place on veterans - particularly on people who served and made the ultimate sacrifice - that it's as comfortable for those folks as possible, recognizing that the folks who live here don't have a home to go to," said the mayor.

The legion, too, confirms it’s involved in discussions about alternate locations, but the bigger picture is what's important.

"Not being able to go there is not ideal, but at the same time, we do convey our sympathies to those who do find themselves homeless and have chosen that area to take shelter and refuge," said Craig Hood, executive director of the Royal Canadian Legion Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command.

"We'd like to share our deepest concerns with our fellow Nova Scotians who find themselves without secure shelter at this time. It truly is a sad thing to experience that, and we as a legion, we will adapt," said Hood.

Halifax outreach worker Darrin Smith, who spends a lot of time at the Grand Parade site, offered a more blunt assessment.

"How can you celebrate anything in Grand Parade, when you have 30 homeless in Grand Parade at the present moment," he asked.

"Everybody has to deal with this. It's not just you. It's everybody's problem, and it's a problem that's gone on for way too long, and that needs to be solved."

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