At Camp Marjorie, FSIN calls for policy review
CBC
As Camp Marjorie enters its second month, the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) is calling on all levels of government to help the people sleeping in tents in Pepsi Park this fall.
"In a country as wealthy as Canada … and in a province as rich as Saskatchewan that's rich in natural resources and wealth and agriculture, we're the bread basket of the world, but it's a national shame and embarrassment when we can't provide for our most vulnerable people," said FSIN Vice-Chief David Pratt.
The tent encampment in the park has been growing since October. While people have been moving in and out, and social services have been providing temporary assistance to some residents, camp spokespeople say there are still around 100 people sleeping there on any given night.
The FSIN is calling on the provincial government to review the policies that may have led to so many people losing their housing or being unable to find or maintain stable housing this fall.
"The [Saskatchewan Income Support] program — that's not working," said Pratt.
The province completed its transition to the Saskatchewan Income Support (SIS) program at the beginning of September. One of the major changes differentiating SIS from the former Saskatchewan Assistance Program (SAP) is that housing and utility benefits are paid directly to clients, rather than to landlords first.
Since then, Minister of Social Services Lori Carr said the province has been "hearing anecdotally from landlords that there's a possibility people may end up homeless," but has not yet seen statistics to confirm that.
"The program has only been fully implemented for the past two months," she said. "Before that, the majority of people that were on it are paying their own bills already and they're being successful at it. Now, we've just got to work on the last batch of people that were transitioned over.
"It might take a little bit more intense one-on-one work with those clients, but we're willing to do it."
The Ministry of Social Services is continuing to assess the program, and it may be adjusted in the future.
In the meantime, Carr says the Ministry has been working with Camp Marjorie, and that many of the residents there were not receiving any income support from the province to begin with.
"We've actually been able to sign them up for the program and have started doing some applications for permanent housing for some of these individuals," she said.
So far, Carr says the government has been able to find housing for ten people living at Camp Marjorie, and is working through applications from 20 more.
But while Camp Marjorie's beginning coincided with the province finalizing its transition to SIS, Carr doesn't think the new program caused people to lose their housing.
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