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Red Deer shelter 'bursting at the seams' as homelessness grows in central Alberta city
Red Deer shelter 'bursting at the seams' as homelessness grows in central Alberta city

CBC

timea day ago

  • Business
  • CBC

Red Deer shelter 'bursting at the seams' as homelessness grows in central Alberta city

Red Deer sees surge in number of people experiencing homelessness 4 days ago Duration 2:03 Social Sharing With homelessness numbers on the rise, a Red Deer charity is struggling to keep up with demand for its shelter services. Safe Harbour Society shelter manager Adina McKinnon said the facility has been running at full capacity, putting staff and clients under significant pressure. "We can't meet the needs of the people if it continues going this way, because it's not working," McKinnon said. The City of Red Deer's latest community homelessness report states that 799 people experienced homelessness for at least one day in 2024-25, an increase from the 2023-24 count of 450 people. McKinnon said the shelter's current space, which has been in use since 2020, is "bursting at the seams" as it struggles to accommodate the recent increase in demand. "It worked great when we were only seeing ... 75 people, but we're trying to exist within that same space, seeing triple the amount of people," she said. According to Safe Harbour's most recent annual report, the shelter welcomed 1,059 unique individuals during the 2023-24 year. McKinnon said the demand on Safe Harbour's staff has grown, but its staffing model hasn't changed. "We still have the same amount of staff for up to 300 [clients] we're seeing in a 24-hour period," she said. Homelessness outside of Red Deer is also an issue for Safe Harbour, with people from surrounding municipalities being brought to the city. "Without any emergency services available in those smaller communities, people are coming to Red Deer," McKinnon said. She added the shelter has had "people being dropped off by RCMP members from different communities because they just don't know where else to get them support." Shelter relies on land-use extensions The Safe Harbour shelter is branded as a temporary shelter by the City of Red Deer, making it reliant on land use agreement extensions that need to be regularly re-approved by council. "We've just been continually awarded a short period of continuation for our shelter operations, which has made it a challenge," said McKinnon. The situation makes it difficult for the shelter to improve the services it provides to clients. "We haven't been able to make any movement forward with the supports that are needed because we don't have a permanent space," said McKinnon. Gordon Wright, vice-chair of the city's housing and homelessness integration committee, echoed the need for increased support for shelters and other services. "Having sufficient resources to ensure that those programs are well staffed and continue to build their capacity to assist based on the need within the community" is important for Red Deer, he said. He expressed significant concern with the findings of the latest report, including figures suggesting that in Red Deer, 317 people experienced homelessness for at least one day in March 2025 alone, marking an increase from 210 during the same period in 2024, 173 in 2023 and 135 in 2022. "It's hard to see a number like that and think that we're doing right by our community," he said. Wright pointed to Red Deer's rental market, which has seen rents rise faster than the incomes of many poeple, as a contributing factor behind the rise in homelessness. While he called the situation "disheartening," Wright said progress is also being made. "The folks that we're helping … they're staying housed longer," he said. The committee's members work with people affected by homelessness to help them find and maintain affordable housing, including through promoting effective budgeting and by working with landlords to build stronger relationships with struggling tenants. "While there's certainly challenges in finding housing for this surge of need, those individuals that are being helped are being helped in a way that they're finding success with," said Wright.

Young child found alone in Red Deer, RCMP seeking family
Young child found alone in Red Deer, RCMP seeking family

CTV News

time4 days ago

  • General
  • CTV News

Young child found alone in Red Deer, RCMP seeking family

RCMP are looking for the family of a young child who was found alone Friday morning. Mounties said the child, believed to be about five years old, was found by themself at the Hunting Hills Highschool on Lockwood Avenue just before 9 a.m. Officers canvassed the area but didn't find the child's family. As of 1 p.m., no reports of a missing child had been made. The child is described as about 4″ tall with a medium complexion. They are wearing orange, gray and white Hot Wheels shorts and a matching shirt with Champion written on the back, as well as white shoes and a blue and grey backpack. Anyone with information is asked to call Red Deer RCMP at 403-406-2200.

Republican Party of Alberta calls for province's independence at rally in Red Deer
Republican Party of Alberta calls for province's independence at rally in Red Deer

Globe and Mail

time25-05-2025

  • Politics
  • Globe and Mail

Republican Party of Alberta calls for province's independence at rally in Red Deer

Inside a hotel event hall in the centre of the province, 12 Alberta flags hung around the large room. But nowhere to be found was the red and white maple leaf. Around 400 people had gathered at the Red Deer Resort and Casino Conference Centre for a town hall hosted by the newly re-named Republican Party of Alberta to promote the province's growing independence movement. Walking on to the stage to AC/DC's 'Thunderstruck' was the party's leader, Cameron Davies, a long-time conservative operative who has worked behind the scenes in Alberta politics for more than a decade. In April, Mr. Davies loudly rescinded his membership to the United Conservatives, a party he helped put in power but now criticizes for it's recent health contract procurement controversies, lack of transparency and bloated government. As the head of the political arm of Alberta's separatist movement, he made a pitch to attendees focused on unity and political involvement. 'We are the conservative alternative option. This is not a one issue, single issue party,' Mr. Davies told The Globe and Mail in an interview before the event. The weekend rally is just one conversation in a larger dialogue that has been at the fringe of Alberta politics for decades, but has recently seen a surge in the wake of the recent federal election. The province has danced around talks of separation in the past, as recently as 2019 and 2020s Wexit movement, but this month has seen a flurry of political action and growing support in some corners. At the centre of it all is Premier Danielle Smith who has been using separatism and warnings of a 'national unity crisis' as a way to push Ottawa and Prime Minister Mark Carney against a wall on energy policy. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith focuses on scrapping energy policies in speech on province's relationship with Ottawa Her government recently, in proposed legislation, reduced the number of signatures needed for a referendum question down to 177,000 from 600,000, opening the door to a vote on independence. But at the same time, Ms. Smith has remained steadfast in saying she is for a 'sovereign Alberta within a united Canada,' without denouncing the separatists. Resentment toward Ottawa, and frustration over energy policy, social issues, and education dominated the chatter in the Red Deer crowd. Paul Neumann, 31, works at a slaughterhouse in a nearby town and says he was a reluctant separatist but is all on board now, even if he's not sold on the political part. He grew up on a farm and wants to be able to own a home where he and his wife can raise a family. Financial struggles are making that goal difficult, and Mr. Neumann says an independent Alberta would be more prosperous. 'We're being taxed like crazy.' he said. 'My wife and I, we can't really afford to put money away.' Western discontent is a growing problem after Liberal election victory Opinion: Dear Alberta, please don't leave Near a table sporting Republican merchandise which came in red, black, or camouflage, was 73-year-old retiree Jacob Korycki. He and his wife attended the event to find out more about the Republicans. 'We're here to learn about it, to see if that's what we're going to go with, or if it's gonna be something else,' said Mr. Korycki. 'I definitely don't want to be part of the United States.' As a heavy duty mechanic most of his working years, he often worked in the oil and gas sector which he says was neutered by Ottawa in the 1980s and was again under Justin Trudeau. 'I got burnt then, and we're getting burnt again here,' said Mr. Korycki. Two major players have emerged in the sovereignty fight – the Alberta Prosperity Project, and the Alberta Republican Party. The former has gained tens of thousands of registrations in the past few weeks and has funnelled its energy into getting signatures on a referendum ballot – one that it's leader Mitch Sylvestre filed a petition for on Friday. The Republicans have been focused on siphoning political power from the province's dominant parties, placing two candidates in upcoming by-elections with plans to slate 87 candidates in the next provincial election, set for 2027. When asked about how the two groups were operating in the same space, Mr. Davies said he was worried about putting all the separatist eggs in one basket. 'It's absolutely important that every group, every organization and every individual is united in the purpose of an independent Alberta,' Mr. Davies said. Speaking at the event was Gordon Kesler, the only separatist to ever hold a seat in the Alberta legislature which he had for two and a half months in 1982. His former riding in Olds-Didsbury is where Mr. Davies hopes to win his seat in the upcoming round of by-elections. Mr. Davies called Mr. Kesler a 'giant in our movement.' Mr. Kesler, speaking from the stage, claimed that Prime Minister Carney was installed by the World Economic Forum, likened Alberta's current place in Canada to that of pre-revolution America of 'taxation without representation,' and warned the audience not to trust Premier Smith. 'You are free freedom warriors in a time of great, great hostility towards this province' Mr. Kesler told the crowd.

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