As Halifax’s homeless population grows, city staff want HRM council to consider designating more park space for homeless camps, including a section of the Halifax Commons.
In a report going before council on Tuesday, staff highlight the homeless population has doubled since November and is expected to keep climbing. Staff note space in up to 18- 20 city parks are needed and around the same amount of park space may be required by next year.
The authors point out there is overcrowding at current sites -- including Victoria Park, where there are nearly 40 tents and Grand Parade, where there are about 17 tents.
Staff suggest putting a cap on the number of tents allowed at those sites and designating new space for 20 tents at the Halifax Commons at North Park Street and Cogswell Street.
“This site will regularly be monitored to ensure it doesn’t expand into other areas of the Halifax Commons,” the report reads, adding that at the end of October, two baseball diamonds at the North Side of the Halifax Commons will be closed.
“That space will be converted into a larger homeless encampment,” the report reads, noting it’s close to a year-round public bathroom.
Kathryn Cleroux has been living in Victoria Park for nearly a month. Before that, she lived in her car.
“I’d been fighting for a long time to stay with my face above the water and I just surrendered and let myself fall and this is where I ended up,” she said. “A lot of people, their dream is to get a van so they can live in their van.”
Her small red sedan’s tire is flat. The exhaust system rumbles as soon as she starts it. Often, she gets tickets because she can’t afford to pay for downtown parking.
She said not every tent you see at Victoria Park has someone living in it, pointing out that some people have moved on.
“A lot of the tents are empty,” she said. “I think what they need to do instead of giving us more space is improving the conditions of the spaces that we do have. I think that’s where their focus needs to be, and providing support.”
While the park is extremely clean, some garbage bins were overflowing Monday afternoon.
Cleroux also expressed concerns about the park’s only portable toilet.
“We have one and it gets cleaned once a week,” she said. “I think if they’re going to open more parks they would need two of those.”
Howard Epstein, a former city councillor and former MLA who is also on the board of Friends of Halifax Common, said HRM has a long history of playing fast and loose with the halifax Commons.
“At the same time in an emergency you can’t really object to the common being used to help out homeless people,” said Epstein. “The problem is the report kind of sounds like the staff have it in mind that this might not just be a temporary matter but they might want to do it long-term and that’s really unfortunate.”
Epstein emphasized tents on the Halifax Commons shouldn’t be permanent and points out that governments have long relied on the private sector to build housing and it’s time for governments to do it themselves.
“Think of how the city let the old Bloomfield site for example slip out of their hands and it’s just been sitting there as a ruin,” Epstein said. “There are lots of other sites the city could be developing.”
David DiPersio, president of the condo board for Armoury Square -- a luxury condo building near the Halifax Commons—said concerned residents contacted the board Monday about the proposed homeless encampment on the commons.
“The Board is very concerned with the housing crisis and other factors which are contributing to the increase in homeless encampments in the city,” said DiPersio. “We have not had a chance to discuss the provisions specific to the Halifax Commons.”
The condo board president said residents may have several concerns including the number of encampment sites, where they would sit within the commons, and how health, safety and sanitation concerns would be addressed.
“The commons is unique in terms of its high level of usage by a diverse community of all ages, as well as the wide array of sports, recreation, and general leisure opportunities it provides,” said DiPersio.
“For this reason, the Board and the broader community of Armoury Square will likely have several questions in relation to this matter.”
