Encampment cleanup pilot step closer after EPC approval

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This article was published 16/04/2024 (550 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The City of Winnipeg is eyeing a new pilot project to clean up encampments, by partnering with agencies that serve homeless people.

Council’s executive policy committee voted Tuesday to devote up to $170,000 of the city’s existing budget to enter agreements with Main Street Project, Siloam Mission and Downtown Community Safety Partnership for the project.

While it’s not yet clear how many encampments this would clean up, Mayor Scott Gillingham said he hopes the work can begin as soon as possible, ideally by early May, and continue through the end of October.

“This really is to help get the encampments cleaned up and serve the needs of area residents and those living in the encampments as well … The principle is we’re looking at probably weekly cleanups or certainly regular cleanups (of multiple sites),” said Gillingham.

The mayor stressed his top priority remains connecting folks who live at the outdoor sites with permanent housing, while the cleanups would help reduce the safety risks posed by discarded needles, flammable materials and other garbage.

If city council provides final approval of the plan, the city’s chief administrative officer will work with the three social agencies to identify which encampments are in most need of attention.

Gillingham said the pilot project would largely build off a model used in multi-day encampment cleanups that the agencies completed last year, where encampment residents were approached before a cleanup began and helped identify which items could be trashed.

“I think it’s proper and appropriate for these …. agencies to help individuals in these encampments identify belongings that are theirs, those items that matter to them … People have rights. We want to make sure those rights are protected,” said Gillingham.

During one of the past cleanups, encampment residents requested supplies to help finish the trash collection themselves, Tessa Blaikie Whitecloud, the chief executive officer of Siloam Mission, told EPC members.

“There is a keen, keen desire of the residents of encampments to have a clean space, to live in a clean space … They were abundantly grateful to our team,” said Blaikie Whitecloud.

The proposed pilot project follows a city staff report on municipal work to clean up encampments. In 2023, the city spent nearly $84,000 on 162 encampment cleanups, while officials estimate it would cost $4.06 million per year to provide weekly cleanups at an estimated 150 encampments throughout the city, according to the report.

Blaikie Whitecloud said she believes effective encampment cleanups can be done at a much lower cost. She said the sites should also require fewer responses from the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service and Winnipeg Police Service once they are frequently cleared of fire hazards and other debris.

“I think there is a way forward here in partnership at a much less significant cost than what’s being proposed that will allow us to offer that dignified approach, as well as reduce costs for other services,” said Blaikie Whitecloud.

The preferred model would also employ homeless people to collect trash, which Blaikie Whitecloud said provides valuable experience.

In Siloam’s previous cleanup efforts, Main Street Project provided outreach to encampment residents.

A pilot project could focus on large encampments with enough residents to warrant weekly cleanups, as well as remove bulky waste left when an encampment is abandoned, said Jamil Mahmood, the organization’s executive director.

Mahmood said the new funding should add to existing city cleanup efforts.

“I think this gives public works the resources they need to kind of prioritize that work, not just when they have equipment available. It allows us to be more consistent,” he said.

In a pilot proposal, Main Street Project noted prime locations for cleanup could include the 300 block of Assiniboine Avenue and parts of Waterfront Drive.

Gillingham said he hopes building off the social agencies’ previous work will allow the pilot to start up quickly, with frequent cleanups.

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The mayor said he expects the work would be concentrated largely around the downtown but not be limited to that area.

“I think we should focus on the most problematic sites right now, what is the greatest need. A lot of that is in the downtown area,” he said.

Council is expected to cast a final vote on the matter on April 25.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

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Joyanne Pursaga
Reporter

Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.

Every piece of reporting Joyanne produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.