Tuesday, a City of Saskatoon Committee approved the plan to provide shelter and services for 50 people at a city-owned building on 1st Avenue North next to the Hilton Garden Inn.

Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark says, “I know and have talked to the Lighthouse and the Salvation Army and their facilities are full. They have been working very hard throughout the pandemic as other housing providers to support people. This has stretched the capacity of everybody.”

However, Councillor Cynthia Block asked, more than once, how this became an urgent situation and why it wouldn’t have been mitigated sooner, as opposed to making choices about buildings and supports provided, in a time frame of weeks.

Fire Chief Morgan Hackl says the question is complicated and part of it is connected to the pandemic. He says the changes in the community are visible on the streets.

“The amount of people that are living rough or homeless, with that, the mental health and addictions has for sure increased. My barometer for that I believe is our incident call volume. Just in this year alone, SFD is going to see a 20 per cent increase in the amount of incidents that we respond to.”

Chief Hackl says he wouldn’t suggest it is one incident over another, but he does believe is strongly connected to the mental well-being of the community and addictions. He adds that another piece of the problem is how the levels of government set up supports.

A special meeting of City Council is being called this week so the shelter, intended to get people out of the cold weather, can operate for as soon a possible up until the spring.