If City Council’s latest decision makes it through the next stages of consultation, Prince Albert residents could see a permanent enhanced emergency shelter up and running next year.
At last night’s executive committee meeting, City Council voted five to three in favour of moving forward with a shelter location on city-owned land near the exhibition grounds - not far from the current temporary shelter.
“Really good points that were raised tonight from the public and by council,” said Mayor Bill Powalinsky. “As you can tell, everybody is kind of at different stages of preparedness, but I feel very, very happy that we’re one step closer.”
The chosen location was one of several identified after months of community consultations.
Ward 4 Councillor Bryce Laewetz voted against the motion. “I’m not opposed to a location being in ward four,” he said. “But I believe that the residents deserve the chance to voice their opinion and to be consulted with, you know, without just making a drastic step.”
He says he is concerned the City may have pigeonholed its focus by moving forward with a specific location.
“We will have at least one more, public meeting before any decision is finalized,” said Laewetz. “I do encourage the residents within my ward and with and other wards to, you know, share their opinions and perspectives.”
This decision was made after community members attended the council meeting to voice their frustrations on how long the process of finding a shelter location has been taking.
The motion says that the administration will now negotiate with the Ministry of Social Services and the YWCA about establishing a shelter on the city-owned land.
Powalinsky says he wants to keep the ongoing process transparent for the public.
“Let’s not debate whether it should be or shouldn’t be, but that consultation will be. What do we need to do to make this work? What kind of contingency plans, do we need to have in place?”
An exact location on the land has not been determined.
