(Halifax) Colorful tents line the center of University Street, between the hospital and the Dalhousie University campus. On both sides, cars try to make their way during the evening rush hour, their drivers honking their horns. The sound of a jackhammer echoes on the asphalt of a nearby street. Over time, the people who set up temporary shelters there got used to all the noise. They have nowhere else to go.
Arjun Singh, a postdoctoral student from India, can't believe his eyes. “I was surprised to see this in Canada. I thought it was a rich country,” he admits before continuing on his way. On the sidewalks on both sides, students walk to get to their classrooms.
“There's no reason for older people to live in a tent,” says Judy Howe, 77, who is wearing a windbreaker. “None of us chose to be here. »
Photo by Mylene Creta, Press
Until recently, Judy Howe (77 years old) was forced to live in a tent with her 80-year-old partner after the building in which she rented an apartment was sold. Finally the good Samaritan found him a new place.
He finds himself on the street after they have sold the apartment building where he lived with his partner George Gilmore, a large man who does not look 80 years old. The two of them go camping by force.
“It's incredible and unbearable,” says the elderly woman, who ironically makes her living working in maintenance and in the kitchens at Victoria General Hospital, across the street. Sometimes she starts crying desperately during the interview, apologizes and then recovers.
“The fact that we live on the street is not because we don't have money,” says Tammy, a young woman who lives in the tent next door. “But we don't have $2,000 a month. »
Affordable apartments are scarce and the wait is so long you can't hope anymore. “We've been on the lists for months,” she says, angry and frustrated.
The average price to rent a 4½-bedroom apartment in Halifax is $1,628 per month, according to a Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) rental market report released in January. It now costs $2,568 per month, according to September data from Rentals.ca.
Photo by Mylene Creta, Press
The city of Halifax has installed chemical toilets in the fields. It is also responsible for waste collection.
A 1% vacancy rate puts upward pressure on rents, as does the lifting of the moratorium on renovations imposed during the pandemic in March 2022. According to the city, the number of homeless people has doubled since 2018. There were only More than 1,300 at the beginning of summer, with a population of approximately 440,000 people, the size of the city of Laval.
“Winter will kill me”
At the other end of the spectrum, Glenn Snow fears the arrival of the cold season. “I think winter is going to kill me,” says the 63-year-old. during the passage Press At the end of August, the days were still warm, but the nights were starting to get cooler and more humid.
He was tying his tent stakes with a hammer when we found him. He welcomed us with a big smile despite his difficult living conditions. “To be honest, I feel very alone,” he admits. I try to keep my spirits up. »
Already affected by his partner of the last 30 years being hospitalized for cancer, he lost his home in early June due to renovations. Impossible to find another rental for $900 a month. He set up his tent next to the hospital so he could visit it easily.
“I never thought I would one day find myself in a situation like this,” says the man who has worked as a pipefitter at oil refineries in Fort McMurray, Alberta, for 40 years.
Photo by Mylene Creta, Press
William Gordon McQueen pitched his tent at the University Street camp in Halifax. An organization gave him some propane tanks.
Nearby, his neighbor William Gordon McQueen explains that he has been living in tents for two years. “Take me back to Sydney, Nova Scotia,” he asked us several times. His speech is incoherent. There are two broken pipes on the table where he is eating. Glen encouraged him to pitch his tent nearby after other camp residents stole his belongings. He said those troublemakers were already gone.
Judy and George ended up getting lucky. A few weeks after passing away PressA good Samaritan found them an apartment and others provided financial support.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre took up his story after it made local media headlines. “Judy and George are the human faces of the cruel cost of living crisis that Democrats and neoliberals have created over the past nine years,” he wrote on Facebook. It is austerity for the people and abundance for the government. End government greed. »
Mike Savage, who until recently was mayor of Halifax, is reluctant to blame any political party, federal or provincial. “No one has done enough for 30 years,” he notes. Nobody, and the burden fell on the municipalities. »
He denounces saying: “We are the ones who have the least money and we pay the bill.”
Difficult balance
The University Street encampment where Judy and George lived until recently was one of four green spaces where the Halifax Regional Municipality allows homeless tents to be set up. It was removed from the list on September 24 in anticipation of winter snow removal operations because it poses a safety risk to campers. They must be rehoused in shelters before 1He is November by the city, which already estimates that there will not be enough places.
Photo by Mylene Creta, Press
The City of Halifax provides bottled water where camping is permitted.
There are chemical toilets and bottled water provided by the municipality. It also collects trash and provides electricity to other sites. Last winter, the city set up a shelter in a yard and volunteers purchased insulated tents typically used for ice fishing.
“There is no perfect solution to homelessness,” says former Mayor Savage.
We are simply trying to handle the situation in the best way possible, both for homeless people and for people who live in the community and want access to parks, playgrounds and open spaces.
Mike Savage, former Prince of Halifax
Each of these four locations tolerates between six and twelve tents, but they quickly outgrow their capacity. Their numbers doubled and tripled in early June, prompting the City Council to approve nine more potential spaces, two of which have been in use since late July. “They are there if we need them,” explains the former mayor.
Photo by Mylene Creta, Press
Tents set up in the middle of University Street in Halifax must be dismantled within 1 yearHe is November in anticipation of winter snow removal operations.
Tents are not permitted anywhere else and people staying in unauthorized spaces must move to one of the designated spaces within 24 hours with the assistance of the city.
City Hall has come under fire from Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston for including two green spaces that are particularly popular with residents: Common Park and Point Pleasant Park.
“It's absolute madness,” he said a few days after the July vote. I almost fell out of my chair. »
However, it is difficult to find a balance between the needs of displaced people and the needs of citizens living near the camps.
“We want our green spaces to be for children, seniors and families, so that everyone can enjoy them, but we also realize that there are many people who become homeless, not because they want to, but because they want to.” »
The city's approach was very different three years ago.
With the Canadian press
