Four councillors want ‘houselessness emergency’ declared in Regina

Four city councillors want the City of Regina to declare a “houselessness emergency” and usher in new special meeting procedures.

Two notices of motions signed by Councillors Shanon Zachidniak, Cheryl Stadnichuk, Andrew Stevens and Dan LeBlanc could be discussed at Wednesday’s city council meeting — one about houselessness and the other one about handling special meetings.

The first one said that in addition to declaring a “houselessness emergency,” the councillors would like to see city council call on the federal and provincial governments to contribute emergency funding “to address the urgent houselessness crisis immediately.”

It also called for the City of Regina to make a long-term commitment to address houselessness as part of next year’s budget process.

The councillors would also like city council to direct administration to create a plan by the end of Q3 2023 to provide temporary barrier-free shelter for Regina residents in need “with the opportunity to provide input from the houseless, Indigenous leaders and local organizations working in mental health, addictions, and housing,” it said.

In response to the eviction of those living in the former encampment on the lawn around City Hall on July 28, the councillors also want there to be new procedures for dealing with encampments until all houseless residents have access to shelter.

In the notice, the councillors outlined they would like to see encampments receive a written safety checklist and help to ensure they are compliant.

“Encampments can only be dismantled for safety reasons if a documented pattern of unwillingness to address multiple safety concerns can be demonstrated in writing to the encampment residents and City Council,” the motion notice read.

After the special meeting scheduled prior to the eviction was suddenly cancelled “due to lack of quorum,” the four councillors want to ensure something like that doesn’t happen again.

In the second notice of motion, they expressed once a special meeting has been called, the meeting shouldn’t be able to be cancelled due to lack of quorum prior to the call of order.

The four councillors said in that second notice they would also like the procedure bylaw to be amended so that when a special meeting is to be held, the city clerk must provide a 24-hour advance written notice to all members of the time, date and place of the meeting, outlining the nature of the businesses to be considered at the meeting using multiple means of contact and confirm it was received.