Mayor urges province to establish new homeless shelter in Fredericton

The mayor of Fredericton is calling on the province for a new temporary homeless shelter that would open next month.

With Fredericton's temporary out-of-the-cold shelter closing at the end of April, Mayor Mike O'Brien wrote a letter to Social Development Minister Dorothy Shephard, asking the province to take action on the issue of homelessness.

The letter was approved by city council at Monday night's city council meeting.

O'Brien saysthe homelessness problem isn'tgoing away once the shelter, located at 791 Brunswick Street, closes at the end of the month.

And ifplansaren'tput in place soon, dozens of people will be backon the streets.

"There is no doubt many of the citizens currently residing at 791 Brunswick will turn to sleeping outside in tents throughout the city," O'Brien says in the letter.

"This is both an unsafe and unacceptable outcome."

Coming up with a new plan

In February, the city sent anotherletter askingthe province to present a "coherent" homeless plan that would go beyond the temporary out-of-the-cold shelter's lifeline.

At the time, the out-of-the-cold shelter was set to close at the end of March. The deadline was later extended to April 30.

Now, O'Brien is suggestingthe province use some of its downtown land to set up modular buildings andtrailers where people could live.

He's asking the unitsbe situated in a parking lot next to the Victoria Health Centre, calling it a temporary solution until the homeless crisis is fixed long term.

If the province agrees, O'Brien says this can be put in place by May 1, or shortly thereafter.

"If the Department of Social Development is willing to consider this, we'll get together right away and see if there's a way we can brainstorm this and make it happen right away."

City to chip in

While the province would be expected to use its ownland,O'Brien says the city could provide services to the units, such as water, sewage and power, which he says could hook up to the nearbysmall craft aquatic centre.

O'Brien says the downtown location makes sense because it would be near the Fredericton Community Kitchen, themen's shelter and other services that clients might need atthe health centre.

• Fredericton wants 'coherent' homelessness plan from province
• Fredericton waiting for out-of-the-cold shelter plan
• Let's count the rooming houses in Fredericton, councillor says

"This would be another step outside of both our comfort zones of what we've done in the past, and see if it's a potential option."

O'Brien says he's hopeful the province will be receptive to the letter. But he admitsthe idea of using provincial land for something like this might not havebeen on government's radar until now.