P.E.I. working with Summerside to find housing solutions 'before any tent encampments pop up,' minister says - Action News
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PEI

P.E.I. working with Summerside to find housing solutions 'before any tent encampments pop up,' minister says

P.E.I.'s housing minister says his department is taking a closer look at how to address housing issues in Summerside.

Liberals MLA asks province for its plans to support city

Two single beds side by side with red coverlets with a moose pattern, fleece blankets folded at the bottom, and towels folded on top. There is a window on one wall and a small table between the beds.
Summerside Mayor Dan Kutcher says his city could benefit from units similar to the Park Street Emergency Shelter in Charlottetown. (Jane Robertson/CBC)

P.E.I.'s housing minister says his department is taking a closer look at how to address housing issues in Summerside.

Rob Lantz made the comments while answering questions from Liberal MLA Gord McNeilly in the legislature on Thursday.

McNeilly said he's concerned about a number of recent evictions in the Summerside area involving people who were living at the Summerside Motel.

The province had been paying for their accommodations, using the motel as an emergency shelter.

head shot
Liberal MLA Gord McNeilly says he's been hearing from residents the housing situation in Summerside is at a critical level. (CBC )

The government did not provide any answers as towhy they were evicted at the legislature. But McNeilly wanted to know what's happened to those people and, more broadly, about the issue of housing insecurity in Summerside.

"Residents wanted me to ask, where is the support?"he said. "They were promised mobile units. Where is the plan and where are the units for that area?"

Mobile units an option

There was some confusion last fall when the previous housing minister announced "modular housing units" for Summerside, right when the mobile emergency shelter was being set up in Charlottetown.

The Summerside units were actually pre-fabricated homes not an emergency shelter like what'son Park Street.

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Housing Minister Rob Lantz says mobile units for Summerside are on the table. (CBC )

On Thursday, Lantzsaid that kind of shelter is now a possibility for Summerside.

He said he's been in talks with the city's mayor, Dan Kutcher.

"[The mayor]mentioned they're getting concerned that the situation with unhoused people ... might be escalating," he said.

"We've got toget a handle on the problem and work proactively together, find solutions that work for the City of Summerside. And these are just preliminary discussions, but we want to get ahead of it before summer season, before any tent encampments might pop up."

Motels aren't working, mayor says

Lantz said members from his department are gathering information and will present some options on how to move forward.

He saidthe city probably needs a bit more capacity for a shelter.

Tents, tarps and other makeshift shelters make up a homeless encampment.
Rob Lantz says they're hoping to come up with a solution before the summer season and before any tent encampments like the one that was set up in Charlottetown pop up. (Sheehan Desjardins/CBC)

"We'll look to the City of Summerside to determine what their needs are and we're going to be a partner with them in this process to get ahead of the problem there, make sure that we've got appropriate capacity for emergency shelters," he said.

Kutcher told CBCthe city needs more emergency shelter space along with wraparound supports for mental health and addiction something like what Charlottetown haswith Park Street and the Outreach Centre.

Dan Kucher at microphone.
Mayor Dan Kutcher has been speaking with the province about the growing number of unhoused people in the city. (Sheehan Desjardins/CBC)

The mayor said the province's approach using motels in Summerside isn't workingbecause there's no support for residents, and that people are living in tents, couch surfing and living under bridges.

Kutcher said the city needs more emergency shelter space as soon as possible.

With files from Kerry Campbell