A $28,000 request from the Peter McKee Community Food Centre for extra security.
The Centre is located across from the new Bridge to Home shelter on St. George Street and has received increased crime and drug use complaints.
In a letter to Moncton City Council and Health Minister Bruce Fitch, General Manager Christine Taylor stated, “Staff, volunteers, and clients have become deeply concerned about the confrontational aspect of individuals who frequent the [Bridge to Home] shelter.”
She also explains the centre has had to hire on-site security since the spring of 2023 for $56,000. These funds were taken from their food purchase account.
The Centre requested that the municipal and provincial governments increase their annual operational grants to the Centre by $28,000 each to reimburse the Centre.
Taylor also noted in her letter that the grant amounts from both the City and the province for the Centre have not increased since they opened in 2016.
“We don’t want to set a precedent where we are just handing out money like this at the request, especially given this is supposed to be a provincial kind of mandate that they are supposed to be keeping the area secured. But, I don’t think it is fair personally, that this agency is unnecessarily having to pick up these costs, and the concern about volunteers is a big thing too,” City Community Development Officer Vincent Merola stated.
“We don’t want them to lose the very small pool of volunteers that we have today. The province has already covered their half so we would be up for the remainder.”
The funding request was approved in principle during a Committee of the Whole meeting this week and must be ratified at a Moncton City Council meeting.
But other City Councillors felt there is a bigger issue that needs to be dealt with.
“When are we as a council going to have a sit-down and discuss the future of this building that is across the street?” Councillor Shawn Crossman questioned.
“Something is going on at the shelter that is affecting seniors in the area, affecting volunteers in the area and affecting the Peter McKee Centre. I know that we have an agreement with the province of New Brunswick for the said building on St. George Street, but I think we have to figure out when we are going to have these conversations on a council level. Security in the area is obviously a concern for the Peter McKee Centre to come forward to Council outside the budget to update security for those people using the services within that building.”
Last month, Moncton City Council voted in favour of providing $150,000 for upgrades for the shelter on St. George Street.
