Regina city council approves Halifax Street shelter

The City of Regina has finally decided to purchase its permanent emergency shelter.

Council voted 9-2 to purchase the building used by the Regina Eagles Club on 1600 Halifax St. on Wednesday.

Councillors Terina Nelson (ward 7) and Landon Mohl (Ward 10) voted against the motion.

The move includes a measure to direct city staff to create a plan to compensate affected businesses within 250 metres of the shelter.

Unlike the overwhelmingly negative response during last week’s executive committee, Wednesday’s council meeting featured a variety of responses from delegates.

Rebecca Granovsky-Larsen said she was impressed with the city’s investment into the community well-being fund, but said she wanted to see more funding from all levels of government to address the issue of homelessness.

“We need a longer, bigger strategy to deal with the housing issues that we’re having in our city,” she said, urging the city to approve the purchase

“If we don’t find a solution this way, we will find a solution other ways. People will occupy buildings if there is no housing available because we’re not going to watch people literally die of exposure in this city. It is a travesty that we have so much housing available and so little political will, often, to deal with it, especially at the provincial level.”

Dan Turgeon of Town and Country Plumbing and Heating urged council to table the discussion for purchase, saying more work and consultation needed to be done. Turgeon said the shelter might bring “irreparable harm” to nearby businesses, referencing data about property crime near Saskatoon’s Emergency Wellness Centre.

However, Ward 3 Coun. Andrew Stevens said “piles” of data about the current temporary shelter at the Nest Health Centre and surrounding facilities paint a different story.

He also said the data Turgeon cited didn’t show a correlation between the shelter and the area crime rate.

Shawn Koch was also supportive of the purchase. He said he was speaking on behalf of people who had died on Regina’s streets.

“To the business owners and the property owners of Regina, I ask you this – is your business or your property worth a human life? If the answer is yes, how many?” Koch asked.

Koch also advocated for supportive housing.

Miranda Michell of Fella and Fetch said she supported a shelter, but wondered if council was doing enough to tackle the larger issue of homelessness.

Michell also questioned if the city was doing proper community engagement.

“The shelter alone does not address the root causes such as mental health, addiction and the essential support services that are already in place,” she said.

Michell said moving forward without a comprehensive approach risks continuing the problems the city seeks to resolve.

The shelter will be operated by Regina/Treaty Status Indian Services. The operating cost is $30,000 which the city will cover for utilities, cleaning maintenance and perimeter security. RT/SIS hires its own security for the shelter itself.

“Society is bearing the weight for people that are doing illegal things,” Nelson said while explaining her decision to not support the shelter.

Nelson added that it wasn’t fair for taxpayers to deal with potential negative consequences of the shelter.

“I can’t do it. I will not do it. I don’t know where the right place is and I apologize to administration for tasking you with this difficult position and we just keep saying ‘no’. I get it,  and I don’t know what to do but I know in my heart of hearts, I cannot let the businesses bear the weight of the ramifications of what’s going to happen.”

The Regina Eagles Club is expected to move out of the building by mid-November.

According to the meeting’s agenda report, city staff have reviewed 94 properties since January 2023.

The city’s lease with the Nest Health Centre expires in summer 2025.