The lease with the province for the Bridge to Home Hub on St. George Street will be renewed.
It was a packed room during this week’s Moncton City Council meeting.
Currently, meetings are being held at the Avenir Centre as renovations continue in Council Chambers at City Hall.
Moncton City Councillor Shawn Crossman withdrew a motion on Monday night, that was introduced last month. The motion read: ‘To terminate the agreement entered into with the province of New Brunswick for the operation of the Bridge to Home Hub at the facility located at 473 St. George Street and return the building to its initial function as a community centre.’
RELATED: Homeless shelter faces eviction if Moncton City Council approves
“The intent of the motion had nothing to do with the John Howard Society, and it had nothing to do with the non-profits. In the motion, it said crime, it said open-air drug use, it said what was going on within the community.”Councillor Shawn Crossman stated.
“The whole intent is for public safety, to make sure that the people, not only the homeless people, not only the people accessing the shelter, feel safe. Some residents right now, you have to buzz to get into businesses on St. George Street. You have to knock on doors and they’ve hired security.”
Executive Director for the John Howard Society of Southeastern New Brunswick Dan Brooks says they felt it was implicated that they failed.
“We have stepped up to provide a service to the community in good faith and I was really hurt by that. Not only was I hurt, but our organization was hurt and the people who do the work were hurt.”
Crossman added he was glad they could finally get the non-profits in one room to have a conversation.
“We have to figure out a way for this to move forward and include the province, as well as the federal government to make sure we don’t have the community around it (shelter) and those trying to access it, as well as the council, not knowing what is going on.”
City Councillors did not vote on Crossman’s motion, because it was withdrawn before a vote could be held.
Instead, as an alternative, Councillor Charles Leger proposed a motion, which passed with just one nay vote from Councillor Daniel Bourgeois.
It recommended the renewal of the lease with the Bridge to Home Hub for another 12 months with conditions.
Those conditions included opening the out-of-the-cold shelter as early as possible and keeping the beds open indefinitely.
It also requested that 24/7 external shelter security be provided through a professional accredited company, with the expectation that the security company will be responsible for moving people on from loitering and hanging around the exterior of the property.
The province will also be required to work with the city of Moncton By-Law and the RCMP on any criminal activity around the property and on the neighbouring properties.
It also asks that the province continue to work to find another location for the Hub and involve the city in those discussions.
Mayor Dawn Arnold concluded the discussion with a stat, “The only cure for homelessness is housing. In 1974, 50 years ago, 20 per cent of all housing in this country was either social or non-market. Today, it’s less than four per cent. I think that goes a long way to articulate what is going on in our community.”
