SOS Vanier unimpressed by Salvation Army shelter changes

The president of SOS Vanier says even with the Salvation Army's changes to its proposed shelter on Montreal Road, he wants council to reverse its approval.

Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury will be putting forward a motion at today's council meetingto undo the 2017 rezoning that allowed the Salvation Army to build a shelter on the site.

Drew Dobson, the president of SOS Vanier, said he still wants councillors to support Fleury's motion.

"I think that sending [the Salvation Army] back to the drawing board would force them to actually listen this time," Dobson said.

On Tuesday, the charity announced it would be reducing the number of emergency beds from 140 to between 70 and 100, adding supportive housing and keeping the addiction treatment service at a separate facility in the ByWard Market.

• Fleury urges council to overturn Vanier shelter decision
• Salvation Army to slash beds at Vanier shelter

Dobson said those changes didn't address the community's main concern.

"A shelter doesn't belong on a traditional main street. That's a non-starter. The main street is supposed to be the economic hub for the community," he said.

"I was very disappointed that that item was left on."

Dobson said the Salvation Army would be following best practices by reducing the number of beds, but the guideline is supposed to be for a single facility not the multi-use hub the charity is proposing, which will have medicalbeds and an unspecified amount of supportive housing.

The 333 Montreal Rd. facility originally had 140 emergency shelter beds and a total of 350 beds.

Salvation Army spokesperson Glenn van Gulik said the charity is responding to the community's concerns.

"We would have between 70 and 100 emergency shelter beds. That's not mega," Van Gulik said on CBC Radio's All in a Day Tuesday.

"Supportive housing, that's not a shelter. That's intended to providebachelor, one bedroom, two bedroom units somen, women, families, veterans andseniors would have an option."

Van Gulik said the city's shelters are at capacity and the Salvation Army is trying to address that.

"All of the shelters are seeing that need, day in and day out. We know that there needs to be that component to it," he said.

In an email addressed to fellow councillors Tuesday afternoon, Fleury said the shelters are not a home and encouraged the city to make regular investments in housing to prevent and address homelessness.