Group wants any future tent encampments in Halifax to be outside of downtown - Action News
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Nova Scotia

Group wants any future tent encampments in Halifax to be outside of downtown

Now that nobody is living in Grand Parade and Victoria Park in downtown Halifax, agroupis calling on the city to only allow any future encampments to be established outside of the downtown core.

Friends of Downtown Halifax is petitioning the city

Red fencing around grassy areas.
Fencing has been put up around the grassy areas of Grand Parade. The last person who was living there has moved into indoor housing. (Paul Palmeter/CBC)

Now that nobody is living in Grand Parade and Victoria Park in downtown Halifax, agroup with business concerns in the areais calling on the city to only allow any future encampments to be established outside of the downtown core.

Friends of Downtown Halifax is petitioning the city after the municipality announced the last person living atGrand Parade left earlier this week.

The group is particularlyconcerned about the summer months because officials are anticipating more tents to pop up.They say the encampments have had a negative effect on business.

Issmat Al-Akhali, a founding member of the group and owner of several businesses in downtown Halifax, said the goal is to have possible new sites identified outside thedowntown and to have potentialhost communities consulted.

"We have found people passed out and overdosing in our lobbies," Al-Akhalitold Radio-Canada in an interview Friday. "We found used needles. We've had to call ambulances once or twice.

"So, this is not a situation that a lot of businesses have signed up for when they opened businesses in downtown Halifax. And it's not a situation that invites customers and tourists to the area."

A man with grey hair wearing a tan blazer stands near a brick wall.
Issmat Al-Akhali is the founding member of Friends of Downtown Halifax. (Radio-Canada)

Grand Parade was one of three major encampments in the Halifax area to fully empty out. The others wereVictoria Park in downtown Halifaxand Correctional Centre Park in Lower Sackville. But tents have popped up on University Avenue.

Mayor Mike Savage told Radio-Canada on Friday that the city has been working with the province to help find homeless peoplebetter locations to live.

He said thosebehind the petition should talk to the province "because homelessness is a provincial issue"and "thank the folks who had cleared these parks and found locations for other people."

A municipal worker at Halifax Grand Parade sweeping up debris
Halifax's Grand Parade is now closed for cleanup. It is expected to reopen by the summer. (Paul Palmeter/CBC)

"They wanted us to close the encampments of places like Grand Parade and Victoria Park. We've done that. It doesn't mean the housing crisis is over. Nobody can create that on their own."

Savage said the work doesn't stop.

"As the weather warms up, there will be people who are homeless. Our goal is to try to find locations for them to live that suit what they need and also allow for public spaces to be used by everybody in the city."

A man stands near a wall with windows and hanging picture.
Halifax Mayor Mike Savage says the city has worked with the province to help find better locations for people living rough to live. (Radio-Canada)

In a news release on Thursday, the city said it expects Grand Parade will reopen to the public by the summer.

Parts of Grand Parade are fenced off for clean up efforts.There is a thoroughfare between Barrington and Argyle streets.There is also access to St. Paul's Church and Halifax's city hall.

The city estimates there are 44 people sleeping rough in four designatedlocations. It says the people living there are being offered supportand resources.

With files from Hlose Rodriguez-Qizilbash and Adrien Blanc