NIMBY by another name

“Great idea, just not here” is a notion being expressed at community consultations, in delegations to governments, and from municipal and provincial elected officials.

It seems progressive, caring and compassionate. Unfortunately, it is simply another way of saying not in my backyard (NIMBY).

These sentiments have been heard in relation to proposed safe consumption and supportive housing sites, and will undoubtedly be heard if the mayor and council decide to move forward on a managed encampment site. (A fulsome consideration of this latter initiative prior to enforced encampment removal, at the onset of winter, with full knowledge that the necessary housing does not exist, would have been preferable, though.)

These attitudes stall forward movement as they deflect and distract.

Of the first five sites for supportive housing brought to the city’s property and development committee, only three went forward. A site on Sherburn was dropped in the name of green space when city staff reported the area having adequate or more than recommended green space levels. “Put them where there is already pavement,” was just one problematic statement made in opposition.

Another proposed site was sent back for further study. Pan Am was concerned about losing some of their designated parking spaces when they have patients with mobility issues. However, the spots closest to the doors were not under dispute in what will remain a very large parking lot. Seemingly for some, people who need supportive housing shouldn’t have a yard and for others, they can have pavement only if parking is not affected.

To give credit where it’s due, the mayor and the majority of council have dismissed the parking concerns of some at the Granite Curling Club. However, precedents have been set and so can be used to slow progress.

When it comes to the current proposed safe consumption site location, those opposed using just-not-here arguments state that their neighbourhood is already saturated with struggling people and another social service will just bring more in. One proposed just-not-here solution is to move it six blocks away to the Manwin. Because that area is doing so well? And it is just a few blocks away from the failed, originally proposed 190 Disraeli?

Some NIMBY proponents may very well mean the best by proposing something they believe will be a better outcome for all. Others may only be interested in a better outcome for themselves. Either way, a refusal to accept and act on the facts and evidence will just have us continuing to re-arrange the proverbial deck chairs as we continue to sink under the weight created by poverty and its consequences.

Poverty has risen sharply in every province and territory amongst every demographic group since the pandemic. Roughly one in five children live in poverty. Nearly half of children in lone-parent families, primarily led by women, live in poverty. Indigenous, racialized, immigrant children and those placed in child welfare disproportionately live in poverty. More than 1.5 million Canadians with disabilities live in poverty. Nearly 10 million Canadians (one in four) experienced some kind of food insecurity in 2024. Between 2018 and 2024, the number of unhoused people in Canada nearly doubled, and the number in unsheltered locations quadrupled, with marginalized populations overrepresented. Meanwhile, Canada’s income and wealth inequality remain stark, now at record highs. Families in the top 10 per cent have 18 times more income after tax than families in the bottom 10 per cent.

The point? Winnipeg and Manitoba’s recent baby steps towards evidenced harm reduction and human rights-based approaches have not created or perpetuated our problems. We simply live in a world with which it is just that much harder to cope.

The results? More mental health issues, addictions and crime.

Canada’s National Advisory Council on Poverty admits the federal government will not meet its goal of cutting poverty in half by 2030. Manitoba is set to release its overdue poverty reduction strategy in early 2026 but it is concerning that poverty was only referenced once in the last throne speech. The City of Winnipeg has not funded its poverty reduction strategy in favour of piecemeal and unstable program funding.

Winnipeg and Manitoba need supportive housing and safe consumption sites. Yes, they only address some symptoms of the root problem of poverty, but that is the whole point behind harm reduction. We need to keep people alive while the work for a better city, province, country and world continues.

Kate Kehler is executive director of the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg.