N.S. minister expresses frustration with lack of turnout at $3M shelter in Halifax

The first night the province's $3 million emergency shelter was open in Halifax, half of the 50 beds were filled.

Night two saw 32 people show up, still leaving room for 18 more.

“I will say this has been a bit of a frustrating week in a sense,” said Nova Scotia’s Community Services Minister Trevor Boudreau.

Boudreau blames the frustration on the fact people are still choosing to sleep in tents outdoors, rather than heading indoors to the newly opened shelter.

“We have a space that is available, we have capacity there right now, we know that being in a warm place, a safe place, it's a safer place than being outside in a tent where you’re in the elements or there’s risk of fire,” he added.

Of the 50 beds at the forum, 30 are reserved for people living in encampments at the ball field in Lower Sackville, and Grand Parade in downtown Halifax.

The encampment at the ball field in Cobequid, N.S. (CTV/Jonathan MacInnis)

Housing advocates say the lack of privacy and safety concerns are keeping people away. Minister Boudreau says they’ve tried to address those issues with other shelters they’ve opened.

“In the fall we were looking for a 50-bed shelter and we provided one that was able to expand to 100 and the hope was people would move over from the Halifax encampment site, that didn’t happen,” said Boudreau.

“We believed that we needed a shelter here on the Halifax side and so we worked with HRM and they found us this location, the forum, we’ve put the money forward to provide that support for people in encampments.”

“We’ve looked at a number of different tools, we’ve purchased the hotel for The Overlook, we’re leasing a hotel for the Bridge,” he added.

The bridge shelter at a hotel in Dartmouth, N.S. (Jonathan MacInnis/CTV Atlantic)

Liberal Leader Zach Churchill says that’s where the province should be spending their money.

“I think we need more hotel-style shelters where there can be some wraparound services for these folks who, in some cases, have really serious mental health and addictions issues,” Churchill says. “The government needs to find a suitable place to find people in a warm environment where they can be safe and they have failed to do that.”

“I think that we are in an emergency,” says NDP Leader Claudia Chender.

Chender says the province waited to address the growing situation in the province.

“If we had enough housing that was truly affordable for all the people who needed it, we wouldn’t need shelters, and that is what we should be thinking about,” Chender says.

Minister Boudreau says there has been a 260 per cent increase in the budget to support people experiencing homelessness. Some of it is being spent on shelters that are operating below capacity.

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