Latest news with #encampments
CTV News
4 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
City motion to ban encampments where children play put forward
A Winnipeg city councillor is hoping to ban homeless encampments near where children play, such as playgrounds or water parks. CTV's Jeff Keele explains.
CTV News
4 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
‘The public is frustrated:' Winnipeg mayor blasts province for pace of homeless encampment strategy
Mayor Scott Gillingham is frustrated about the slow speed of the province's homelessness strategy to get people out of encampments. Winnipeg's mayor is expressing his concern over the speed at which Manitoba's plan to end homelessness is moving forward. On Thursday, Scott Gillingham said he thinks 'nothing is moving fast enough' with the province's 'Your Way Home' strategy – a plan to get people out of encampments and into suitable housing with addiction and mental health supports. 'The bottleneck right now is there's not enough housing units available to take people out of encampments, put them into housing and get them wraparound supports. That is frustrating,' he said. The mayor's comments come as a motion before city hall looks to stop encampments from being set up in public spaces frequently used by families, including community centres, playgrounds and spray pads. The mayor said he's willing to work with councillors on this issue and find ways to protect public spaces from the overgrowth of encampments. 'The public is frustrated. I'm frustrated. There's not enough housing units available to move people from encampments into housing with wraparound supports,' Gillingham said. 'When you've got encampments in playgrounds it's concerning to residents. It's concerning to councillors…It is concerning to me, as well.' To complete the 'Your Way Home' plan, the province is buying and renovating apartment buildings and funding staffing supports through community organizations. The full strategy is available online.
CBC
5 days ago
- Politics
- CBC
Inner-city councillor wants encampments banned from Winnipeg playgrounds, splash pads, pools
Social Sharing The city councillor for Winnipeg's inner-city Daniel McIntyre ward wants to ban encampments in public places where children gather. Coun. Cindy Gilroy has authored a motion to prohibit encampments at playgrounds, spray pads, community gardens, pools and community centre spaces designed for kids and their families. Gilroy issued the motion Thursday at the final city council meeting before a six-week summer prorogation at city hall. She had previously pushed for more needle cleanup in city parks and said she has seen some progress as a result, albeit only in a handful places where funding was made available. Gilroy said she is not trying to push people out of public spaces out of a lack of compassion. "This is out of frustration of inaction. We have been having major issues around finding needles [and] drug paraphernalia and things that quite simply, if a child gets a hold of it, can easily die from," Gilroy said at city hall during a break in council's July meeting. Some cities have designated areas where encampments are allowed and "could be monitored more, where they are safer for not only the public, but also the people that are living … within those encampments," she said. Mayor Scott Gillingham said he will work with Gilroy but is not keen on designated areas for encampments. "The public is frustrated. I'm frustrated. There's not enough housing units available to move people from encampments into housing with wraparound supports," the mayor said. "When you've got encampments in playgrounds, it's concerning to residents and it's concerning to councillors." Gillingham cautioned there are legal impediments to banning encampments. "There's several layers of this. We know that other cities that have tried to ban certain locations for encampments have been taken to court. So there's legalities that we have to look at as well," he said. Gilroy's motion will come before her council colleagues in September. New library named after former councillor A new library slated for Garden City Shopping Centre will be named after former Old Kildonan councillor Mike O'Shaughnessy, who served on city council for 31 years. Council voted Thursday to name the new library the Mike O'Shaughnessy Library. O'Shaughnessy originally sat on council from 1974 to 1980 and then again from 1986 to 2010, serving under mayors Stephen Juba, Robert Steen, Bill Norrie, Susan Thompson, Glen Murray and Sam Katz. Council also voted Thursday to grant city transportation engineers nine months to plan a separated bike lane on Wellington Crescent, against the wishes of dozens of cyclists who have lobbied city hall for months to install the new lane more quickly. There have been calls for the bike lane since cyclist Rob Jenner, 61, was killed on Wellington Crescent just east of Academy Road in June 2024 as he was cycling to work. He was hit by a speeding motorist who lost control of his vehicle. Council also voted Thursday to create a possibility for people opposed to new smart water meters, which transmit usage data, to opt out of their installation, provided they obtain a medical exemption on the basis of exposure to radio waves. The new meters are expected to be more accurate — old meters tend to underestimate water usage — and detect leaks more quickly than the analog meters.
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
North County using $11M to fight homelessness
The cities of Oceanside and Carlsbad are teaming up to get people out of homeless encampments and into housing. The North County cities are using the same approach that's been successful in San Diego.
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
‘It's everyone's responsibility': Nashville leaders propose property owners help pay for the removal of homeless encampments
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A proposal from Metro's Office of Homeless Services could shift more responsibility to private property owners regarding the removal of homeless encampments. At Wednesday's Continuum of Care: Homelessness Planning Council meeting, Director of Metro's OHS April Calvin said that if a property owner wants a homeless encampment moved, they should help pay for it. 'If there is a property owner or a business or someone that's going to ask us to close an encampment or move an encampment, then they should be the responsible party for paying shared cost in that movement,' Calvin said. 📧 Have breaking news come to you: → The proposal follows the release of this year's point-in-time count, which found that more than 2,000 people are experiencing homelessness. However, the unsheltered population — those not in shelters or temporary housing — dropped slightly, with 43% of people living outdoors in encampments. One of those camps used to be in Brookmeade Park. Dede Byrd spent years advocating for its closure and finding housing for the people who called it home. Byrd told News 2 it took the whole community together to work toward a solution. 'It took a whole community to house these individuals, and something that I have learned over the last four years is that at the end of the day, it is the property owner's responsibility to maintain their property,' Byrd said. The OHS told News 2 that it has successfully partnered with private groups in the past to share encampment cleanup costs and wants to make that approach official. 'We actively seek out partnerships that allow us to braid funding and share responsibility, ensuring that the costs associated with transitioning individuals into housing are sustainably managed.' Statement from the OHS, in part ⏩ 'Is it the Office of Homeless Services' responsibility to do that?' Byrd asked. 'No, I don't think that it is. I think it is the property owner, the developer, the private business, they have to participate in some way.' Byrd added that it's a community effort. 'It's everyone's responsibility; I don't think you can lay it at the feet of just one,' Byrd said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
