The SUMA City Mayors Caucus is calling on the government to spend a little more on the homelessness crisis to save a little more in the long run. Chair of the Saskatchewan Urban Muncipalities Association City Mayors Caucus, Gerald Aalbers, believes the Saskatchewan Income Support Program is making the situation worse because it is underfunded. He says what the clients receive is far below the cost of living and there are barriers in applying for it.

The recent Provincial Auditor’s report stated that over 60 per cent of calls to SIS went unanswered and ignored, and then if you get through, there are many forms to fill out, making it more difficult. Aalbers points out that when it comes to social housing, there are thousands of empty units, but many are uninhabitable because the maintenance hasn’t been kept up, eroding the social housing stock to a point where it is too expensive to fix.

Aalbers believes if the income support and social housing were properly funded, it would cost less than it does now, reacting to the rising number of homeless people. He notes that SIS would need an additional $1,517 per month. The alternative is a cost of $2,500 for a bed at a shelter or even more if it were at a hospital, and there are additional costs for policing when people are kept in poverty.