Majority of city council votes against 'houselessness crisis' motion

A motion to address houselessness in Regina as a crisis was voted against 5-2 at a tense city council meeting Wednesday night.

Published Sep 14, 2023 • Last updated 41 minutes ago • 2 minute read

REGINA, SASK : July 19, 2023– A makeshift homeless encampment is set up outside City Hall that now contains 83 tents on the courtyard on Wednesday, July 19, 2023 in Regina. KAYLE NEIS / Regina Leader-Post Photo by KAYLE NEIS /Regina Leader-Post

Regina city council voted against three motions addressing the houselessness crisis at a tense meeting on Wednesday after hearing several community delegates call for more supports.

Council moved the two other motions brought to the table to be discussed during the 2024 budget meeting.

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Councillors Dan LeBlanc, Cheryl Stadnichuk and Shanon Zachidniak brought the motion before council and were the only councillors in favour of it. The submission put forward recommendations that included council calling on provincial and federal governments to contribute immediate emergency funding to address houselessness, as well as procedures to address encampments.

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The majority of councillors voted against declaring a houselessnes crisis, which mayor Sandra Masters called “performative.”

“At the end of the day, what you saw from council in the majority was that the motion itself, if I were to summarize councillors comments, was performative,” said Masters. “Making statements for performance, when really what we’re interested in is action and funding for the things that we need.”

Coun. Jason Mancinelli said that he would not be backing the motion because he believed that it would lead to more political divisiveness.

“I don’t anticipate I’ll be supporting this, and it’s not because I don’t see a problem,” Mancinelli told council. “It’s because of the divisiveness of this policy within our city, both on our council, (with) the residents.”

Mancinelli went on to say that he believes that encampments are an outcome of houselessness, not a solution.

The encampment motion included a safety checklist and would guarantee future encampments would only be dismantled for safety reasons and if residents were not complying with the safety checklist.

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A member of the public was removed from Henry Baker Hall during Coun. Bob Hawkins’ address. While being escorted out, the individual repeatedly yelled to council “the blood is on your hands.”

Hawkins spoke against the motion, saying that council has made efforts to deal with houselessness in the city and that pushing the provincial and federal governments for immediate emergency funding could jeopardize the city’s relationship with them.

“It’s not the case that nothing has been done. This council and in particular this mayor, has done more on this issue than has ever been done before,” Hawkins said.

“We will not further the cause of homelessness if we start hectoring the governments of Saskatchewan and Canada, ordering them to contribute urgently to this issue. They’re already there with us.”

Members of the audience verbally disagreed with Hawkins, who shushed the crowd.

As motions three and four were voted to be referred to the 2024 budget, three other individuals left the meeting hall, condemning the actions of council.

“Go home to your cushy beds,” said one audience member while leaving.

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Once council’s votes were cast, the majority of the gallery left, some shaking their heads.

The motion lost 5-2 with Terina Nelson, Andrew Stevens and LeBlanc not present.

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