Jason Kerr
Daily Herald
Christmas is a time for peace on earth, and with that in mind, I strongly encourage Prince Albert residents to make peace with the fact that they could be waking up to a fresh new homeless shelter in their part of the city at this time next year.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Prince Albert rally around one consensus on a single specific issue—except maybe booing the Saskatoon Blades—but they seem to have done it with the YWCA’s search for a permanent shelter location. Unfortunately, the general consensus seems to be (1) yes, Prince Albert needs a new permanent shelter, but (2) not in my neighbourhood.
The politician, city administrator, or housing advocate who can square that circle exists in the same place unicorns and Saskatoon Blades championship banners do—your imagination. In short, it’s not possible to make everyone happy. But, that hasn’t stopped Prince Albert’s city council from trying.
On Monday, council voted unanimously in favour of holding a series of public consultations to receive feedback on possible shelter locations. The dates, locations, and number of meetings have yet to be finalized, although the City is aiming for four of them with the goal of choosing a shelter site before the end of March.
I understand council’s reasoning to a certain extent. Building a new homeless shelter is significant undertaking, and ignoring voters’ opinions on it is a great way to burn through good will and get voted out of office. But Prince Albert residents aren’t the only people who need to make peace with the prospect they might not get their way. The City’s decision makers do too. Specifically, they need to be prepared, if they aren’t already, for someone, somewhere to get very angry no matter which location they choose.
This may be an overly-cynical take, but I don’t think there is a location that will make everyone in Prince Albert happy, and no amount of consultation or public education will change that. At best, council can at least say they tried to listen to residents before making an informed decision. At worst, the project ends up in “consultation hell” where it’s constantly under review, but no closer to becoming a reality.
For an example of the latter, look south to Saskatoon and read up on their efforts to develop infill properties in the City’s core neighbourhoods. The process was so expensive, time-consuming, and slow moving that one developer told the StarPhoenix in January 2019 he would never do it again without major changes. People who send me emails arguing “the developer’s plans were bad, actually,” are missing the point. It’s not about good or bad plans. It’s about making a firm yes or no decision. Sending a project to consultation hell is doing the opposite.
Of course, there’s no guarantee that’s where Prince Albert’s homeless shelter project is headed. On Monday, Mayor Bill Powalinsky was adamant the City would find a new location by the March 31 deadline. While speaking at the Chamber of Commerce Mayoral Candidate Forum in the fall, Powalinsky told voters “fear of the unknown” was holding up the process and city council “needs to have the courage to say ‘we are going to make a decision.’”
Now that he’s mayor, Powalinsky will have a chance to follow up on his words, but he’s only one vote on a nine-person council. It will take at least four more to get the ball moving, and whichever councillors finds the new shelter in or near their wards will undoubtedly field a volley of calls demanding they vote against it.
As for guarantees, the only one I offer is that I’m sure to get a few emails from residents telling me I won’t be so confident about “making peace” when the new site ends up just down the street from my apartment. Full disclosure, I live in the West Hill neighbourhood just a few blocks from South Hill Mall. While I’ve never felt unsafe around my apartment, I’m certainly not isolated from the types of unwanted actions and experiences residents raised concerns about during the last round of homeless shelter consultations.
My response is to advise readers to take a good long look around Prince Albert. As I write this, it’s -23 C, and there are people outside pushing shopping carts stuffed with all their possessions. I see them all over the city and this issue isn’t going away. It’s only going to get worse if all Prince Albert does is talk about it.
Homelessness isn’t just bad for the people who don’t have a permanent place to stay. It’s bad for the city. The question isn’t “do I want a new permanent homeless shelter in my neighbourhood?” The question is, “how bad do things have to get before I’m okay with the YWCA running one in my neighbourhood?” For many Prince Albert residents, unfortunately, the answer seems to be “a lot worse.”
Jason Kerr is the editor of the Prince Albert Daily Herald.