Tories accused of ‘fumbling’ homeless file New minister given duties, then cabinet takes them away By: Carol Sanders Posted: 7:00 PM CST Monday, Feb. 6, 2023

Manitoba’s new mental health and community wellness minister says she doesn’t know why the homelessness file was added to her list of duties, then taken away two days later.

On Jan. 30, an order in council was signed by cabinet moving the responsibility for homelessness to the department of mental health and community wellness from families.

On Feb. 1, that order was rescinded by another order in council — a record of a decision made by cabinet and approved by the lieutenant-governor.

At her first news conference as a cabinet minister Monday, Tory MLA Janice Morley-Lecomte (Seine River) could not explain the flip-flop.

“To give an answer as to why it changed, I wouldn’t want to suggest or say anything, because I wasn’t the individual who did this,” she said at the Health Sciences Centre after announcing $1.1 million in provincial funding for the treatment of eating disorders.

“I’m very much focused on the mental health, community wellness portion and the recovery of individuals and our continuum plan of care, at the moment.”

Tackling homelessness was one of the promises of the Stefanson government’s 2021 throne speech. It committed to introducing a strategy in 2022 that emphasized a whole-of-government-approach.

Seeing the homelessness file moved between departments like a “hot potato” in 2023 is disconcerting, said Right to Housing coalition chairwoman Shauna MacKinnon. “It’s very strange, and the fumbling around certainly doesn’t instill confidence.”

Housing advocates are waiting for the government to unveil an actual strategy that addresses homelessness and its root causes — not just temporary fixes, MacKinnon said Monday.

“For months, advocates have been asking for it, and reminding the government that the expansion of social housing supply — with wraparound supports, including mental health supports — must be the foundation of such a plan,” she said.

“We have been told many times to expect the plan ‘any day now.’ We are still waiting… Perhaps once they figure out who will be responsible, we’ll see something but I’m not holding my breath.”

The province said it began rolling out its homelessness strategy last year, by more than doubling funding for emergency shelters, increasing the rent subsidy for Manitobans on social assistance and increasing their basic needs budget by $50 a month.

Families Minister Rochelle Squires and Morley-Lecomte would both be working on the homelessness file as part of a “cross-departmental” approach, a statement from the province said.

It did not answer the question of why an executive order was issued to move the homelessness file from families to mental health and community wellness, or why it was rescinded within 48 hours.

“We need a minister who’s going to take this seriously and prioritize this. People are living in tents; you see them in bus shelters. That’s inhumane. That’s not giving people dignity in living.”–NDP critic Bernadette Smith

“It’s bizarre, but it doesn’t surprise me,” NDP critic for mental health and addictions Bernadette Smith said.

“They seem very disorganized internally. People don’t seem to know what they’re doing — how to really tackle the homelessness crisis,” the MLA for Point Douglas said.

“We need a minister who’s going to take this seriously and prioritize this. People are living in tents; you see them in bus shelters. That’s inhumane. That’s not giving people dignity in living,” Smith said.

“Manitobans need to know who the minister responsible for this is. It needs to be clear there’s someone who’s going to take this seriously, make it a priority and look at a strategy. Whatever they’re doing now is not working.”

“This is particularly a risk when significant departures and moves within the executive council have occurred and there is less ‘corporate memory.’”–Paul Thomas

A veteran observer of Manitoba politics said, at a time when cabinet is losing experienced ministers and swearing in new ones, moving important files such as homelessness from department to department can be risky.

“If done hastily, changing the names of departments and their organizational boundaries is disruptive and mistakes can be made,” said Paul Thomas, University of Manitoba political studies professor emeritus.

“This is particularly a risk when significant departures and moves within the executive council have occurred and there is less ‘corporate memory’ about all the parts of departments and non-departmental bodies that need to be accounted for in designing ministerial portfolios.”

— with files from Danielle Da Silva

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca

Carol Sanders
Legislature reporter

After 20 years of reporting on the growing diversity of people calling Manitoba home, Carol moved to the legislature bureau in early 2020.

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