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
A newspaper says video of Prince William and Kate should halt royal rumour mill. That's a tall order
Prince William and his wife Catherine have been filmed at a farm shop near their Windsor home, The Sun newspaper reported -- the first footage of Kate since she had abdominal surgery for an unspecified condition two months ago.
'You ask for your money, they disappear': Ontario man loses $17K to AI crypto scam
A Toronto man is spreading the word of a cryptocurrency scam that lures victims using AI-generated news sites after he lost $17,000 in investments.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
High thoughts: The habits of Canadian cannabis users are revealed in a new StatCan report
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.
Demand soars for solar eclipse glasses in Canada. Are they worth buying?
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.
Trump says Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and their religion
Former U.S. president Donald Trump on Monday charged that Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and hate 'their religion,' igniting a firestorm of criticism from the White House and Jewish leaders.
Toronto family doctor who called patient's body 'perfect' suspended for 3 months: tribunal
A family doctor in Toronto has been suspended for three months after a disciplinary tribunal found that he failed to follow proper protocols while examining a patient's breasts and made inappropriate comments about her body.
Freddie Mercury's home is on the market for first time since 1980 minus his 'exquisite clutter'
Freddie Mercury's sanctuary in London, where he lived the last decade of his life, is on sale for the first time in nearly half a century -- minus his "exquisite clutter."
'The lost season': Winter comes to a close as Canada's warmest on record
The warmest winter on record could have far-reaching effects on everything from wildfire season to erosion, climatologists say, while offering a preview of what the season could resemble in the not-so-distant future unless steps are taken to cut greenhouse gas emissions.