Emergency shelter set to open as a temporary solution in Moncton
Following multiple pleas for help and the death of a man in a washroom outside city hall, Moncton council is stepping up.
An emergency cold shelter is set to open in the coming weeks to help protect the city’s homeless population at the Moncton Lions Community Centre.
"This is one step,” said Councillor Charles Leger. "There's also in the recommendation taking a look at some tents, some portable... not portable but more industrial type tents that you can put heat in, you can put cots that would help in terms of making sure that people can find a place."
Adding, "Is it ideal? Probably not, but then maybe now we can gain a lot more traction.”
This comes at the same time as the city of Saint John has announced one of its old arenas will be used as a temporary warming shelter this winter.
In Moncton, Leger says the tents are expected to be in place no later than December 29th however, the location is still undetermined.
As for the shelter, he says it will be open and ready to go by January 1st at the latest.
“We had indicated as a city last year that it was difficult for us to operate an out of the cold shelter, we were hoping in April that we wouldn’t be a last minute again. However, the important thing is that we will have somewhere for everyone to go and stay out of the cold,” said Leger.
But will it be enough?
"It will not be enough and the shelter is not the answer unfortunately, but it's certainly going to make it such that we can accommodate as many people as possible. We don't want anyone to freeze on our streets,” he said.
However, it is still a step in the right direction according to Chris Vanbuskirk, who has been opening his church to those in need and has asked council for help.
"I think that they accomplished a lot in a very short period of time,” said Vanbuskirk. “I think it’s a very good location, I think it’s certainly a doable location.”
Adding, "if our time here could be of any help in giving people some insight, a little bit of experience in towards training, we'd love to have them."
He says the church plans to keep its doors open until the new shelter is ready to go.
The new shelter is expected to be open until May, but with things now in motion, it’s time to keep pushing for something more permeant.
"This is a beginning piece,” said Vanbuskik. “It is a stopgap. It is a Band-Aid. What we have to do now is use this to spring forward."
Looking to work as a whole, the Town of Riverview said in a statement that “it’s committed to supporting the larger issue of homelessness in the area.”
Adding, “As of now, we are unaware of municipal or private space in Riverview that would be available for an emergency shelter.”
The city of Dieppe also stated that it has received a request from the City of Moncton, adding that right now it is in the process of analyzing it.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.