The Pas MLA pleads for minister to find temporary housing after town's only homeless shelter closes

With dozens left on the street after the only homeless shelter in The Pas temporarily closed its doors, the MLA who represents the northern Manitoba community is asking why Families Minister Rochelle Squires didn't step in to help.

"Why didn't the minister prepare a temporary place for folks to sleep in?" Amanda Lathlin, the New Democrat MLA for The Pas-Kameesak, said in an interview with CBC News Thursday.

"They need to know that our folks have nowhere to go," she said, followingthe closure of Oscar's Place a shelter named for her late father, Oscar Lathlin.

He served as the NDP MLA for The Pas for nearly two decades before his death in 2008.

The sheltershut down without warningon Sept. 1, just as its new operator, the Canadian Mental Health Association, stepped in to run the 26-bed facility, which is owned by the provincial agency Manitoba Housing.

With badly needed repairs and a severe staff shortage, the CMHA and Manitoba Housing decided the shelter would have to close for eight weeks to get the building up to code.

That meant the dozens of people who rely on the shelter suddenly had nowhere to sleep.

Those who work with homeless people in the community were left scrambling to gettents and warmclothes to hold them over until Nov. 1, when Oscar's Place is expected to reopen.

Lathlinsaid it would sadden her father, whose dream wasto havea place in the town that helped the most vulnerable, to see what has become of the shelter after years of disrepair.

"My dad's goal was to provide a safe space, provide some dignity and respect for the folks who have fallen through the cracks," she said.

"We're calling on the government to bring back the decency that this place had onceand the purpose why it's there."

Lathlin said the majority of those who use the shelter are First Nations. Many are the children of residential school survivors or are survivors themselves.

She wrote to Squires, who is the minister responsible for Manitoba Housing,asking for help with the needed repairs, but says she did not get a response.

"This is an excellent opportunity to putforward the message that they want to put forward towards reconciliation" with Indigenous people, said Lathlin.

Squires has refused multiple requests by CBC News for an interview about Oscar's Place.

Community groups exploring options: premier

At a press conference Friday announcing vaccine initiatives for urban Indigenous people, Premier Kelvin Goertzen was askedwhat is being done to find a temporary place for homeless people in The Pasto sleep.

Community groups are exploring options, he said, but he didn't commit to any offer of government assistance.

"Trying to find an appropriate space isn't always easy," Goertzen said. "I knowthey see it as a priority."

Whenasked about Lathlin's comments on reconciliation, the premier said thecommitment to reconciliation includes the commitment to make the shelter a better facility through the currentrenovations.

"Obviously reconciliation is something that is important in many different ways," he said.

Manitoba Housing has owned the sheltersince 2018.It knew the shelter needed repairs, after receiving a 2019 inspection report from the volunteer board that ran Oscar's Place at that time.

However, attempts to secure a contractor in 2020 were unsuccessful, Manitoba Housing says.

A COVID-19 outbreak in October 2020 created a staff shortage, which led to days when the shelter had to be closed. The building was vandalized during those temporary closures.

Before the shelter can reopen, Manitoba Housing now has a long list of repairs, includingflooring, bathroom renovations, new windows, a new security system, a locking metal door and fire safety upgrades.

A spokesperson for Manitoba's Families Department said the goal is to reopen by Nov. 1.

Sleeping on the streets after homeless shelter closes

3 years ago

Duration 3:25

The only homeless shelter in The Pas, Man. closed its doors without warning on September 1st and it won't reopen for 8 weeks. It's left dozens of people without a place to stay.