Leduc city council overturns decision to establish emergency winter shelter

Leduc’s city council has rescinded its decision two weeks ago to approve a winter emergency shelter.

Councillors in the bedroom community south of Edmonton next to the international airport had voted four-to-three in favour of it on June 24.

After an hour of discussion at Monday night’s council meeting, they voted four-to-two to rescind it, with one councillor not in attendance.

Arguments from councillors looking to reverse the decision from the June 24 meeting included the $308,000 price tag to operate the shelter for an estimated 15 nights a year when the temperature falls below -20 C and wanting to explore more comprehensive options.

“I know that sounds bizarre, but I think we can come up with a better solution by looking at a number of different ways because one size does not fit all,” said Coun. Beverly Beckett, the lone Leduc politician who change her vote on the shelter decision.

The emergency shelter was to act as a replacement for the Leduc Hub, a homeless support centre on the edge of downtown that closed on May 1 after not being able to renew its lease.

“By rescinding tonight, that would give us the opportunity to work on a strategy for dealing with the homeless starting this fall,” said Mayor Bob Young, who voted against the shelter, adding it was important to rescind the shelter now so council can start planning in the fall.

Arguments against reversing the decision centred around keeping people alive.

Coun. Ryan Pollard, who voted to keep the shelter plan and not rescind the decision, said while he liked Beckett’s idea to “think bigger” when it comes to a better, overall solution, revoking the call to establish the winter shelter leaves the city with no plan at all.

“It’s not a bad path to go down, to think about, but the thing is if we rescind tonight, then there’s nothing,” Pollard said.

“We’re flat-footed (then), aren’t we? We don’t meet again until August, and putting things in place for the fall … is going to be a near impossibility.”

Pollard said he remains “absolutely flummoxed that some people at this (council) table keep framing it as an either-or situation.”

“Giving somebody a bed is not enabling them, it’s saving their life, then they can move on to the next steps,” he said.

The Leduc Hub Association says eight of its former clients have died in the two months since it closed. It says the same number of clients died over a year while the hub was still operating.

Coun. Glen Finstad, who also voted to rescind the shelter decision, floated the idea of putting up people in Leduc in need of shelter in hotels instead, suggesting it would be a more economical approach.

In a secondary motion following the decision to rescind the shelter plan, council asked city administration to look into the idea of using hotel rooms for that purpose.

Finstad also said his preference is to “get people to where they’re going to get the services they need,” referencing the provincial navigation centre set up by the Alberta government in Edmonton earlier this year.

“Unless you’re getting people to services, you’re not really changing anything,” said Young. “Just giving somebody a mat to sleep on on the trailer floor doesn’t really improve their situation. If we can get a navigator that can help them find the sources … then you’re starting to make a change on somebody’s condition.”

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Evan Kenny