Putting people before politics

Opinion

Dividing outreach providers won’t solve homelessness. Collaboration and a managed encampment-to-housing site will. As winter closes in, Winnipeg faces a mounting crisis. More people than ever are living unsheltered, exposed to harsh weather, unsafe conditions and the devastating risks of addiction.

Riverbank encampments and makeshift shelters in public spaces have become dangerous not only for residents but also for outreach workers and emergency responders who must navigate snow- and ice-covered terrain just to provide help. Encampment residents, meanwhile, live without even the basic dignity of an outhouse.

The overdose death rate in Winnipeg is among the highest in the country, and too many of those deaths happen in encampments. This cannot continue.

For too long, the conversation has been stalled by a false narrative: that homelessness is solely the result of a lack of subsidized housing. While the housing shortage is real, it is only part of the story. The deeper truth is that Winnipeg is in the grip of a drug-use epidemic that has become the single largest pipeline into homelessness.

And unlike past patterns, this epidemic, overlapped with the pandemic, did not discriminate. It has swept across every race, every age, every income level. Homelessness and addiction are now demographically diverse and geographically present in every quadrant of the city.

This makes the common over-focus on Indigenous homelessness both harmful and misleading.

Not only does it stigmatize Indigenous people, but it also fuels public intolerance and blatant racism. Winnipeg cannot afford to allow stereotypes to shape public policy. This crisis touches us all, and solutions must be designed for the whole community.

Waiting years for new housing builds is not a solution. The private sector already has housing available and has shown a willingness to step up, if provided with the right assurances.

Landlords need to know that damages will be covered and that robust supports will be in place to help individuals succeed once they are housed. With these measures, private housing can become an immediate lifeline.

That is why Winnipeg needs a managed encampment-to-housing site. This is not another “designated” or “sanctioned” encampment. It is a controlled, transitional environment designed specifically to move people from encampments into stable housing, with supports in place every step of the way. It restores dignity, creates safety, and most importantly allows service teams to work with individuals in advance of a housing placement, setting them up for success instead of failure.

At the same time, a managed approach eases the burden on ordinary citizens and the business community, who also bear the impacts of unmanaged encampments. Residents grow fearful of unsafe conditions in their neighbourhoods, while businesses struggle with disruptions that drive away customers. Everyone is important here. We cannot ignore the fact that the interests of housed and unhoused Winnipeggers are intertwined.

But here’s the bigger picture: no single government, and no single outreach team, can solve this crisis alone. The city has taken the position that the province should fund outreach and supports, even going so far as to back just one team under a provincial strategy. While that team is aligned with the province’s Your Way Home plan, sidelining Street Links, a proven leader in private, sector housing transitions, was counterintuitive at best. Collaboration is critical. Dividing providers and narrowing the field of solutions will only slow progress and cost lives.

The outcomes speak volumes. Since January, the province has housed 77 people, relying primarily on subsidies and a limited stock of public housing. By contrast, Street Links, working with private sector landlords, has housed 252 people since April. The difference is stark and it demonstrates why every capable provider must be at the table, supported rather than excluded.

This is about saving lives, but it is also about restoring hope and dignity to those living unsheltered. It is about restoring public trust in municipal and provincial leadership on this issue. It is about ensuring the safety and well-being of everyone in our city. And it is about preventing more tragic deaths from encampment fires, carbon monoxide poisoning and overdoses as winter bears down.

The private sector stands ready. Service providers stand ready. And ordinary citizens and businesses are ready for relief. The question is whether our governments are ready to act, together, before more lives and more trust are lost to cold, fire, overdose and neglect.

Marion Willis is the founder of St. Boniface Street Links.