Concerns for Edmonton’s homeless population as city, province address rise in violent crime

As the province and the City of Edmonton engage in political back and forth over downtown safety and crime, an advocate for the homeless says the city’s vulnerable population remains at risk.

Jordan Reiniger, the executive director of the Boyle Street Community Services, says the rise in violent crime is impacting the city’s homeless population, which has grown during the pandemic.

“Folks that are experiencing homelessness are victimized on a regular basis, and they are the ones who are most at risk to that kind of violence,” said Reiniger.

The province became involved Thursday when Tyler Shandro, Alberta’s justice minister, told Mayor Amarjeet Sohi in a letter that he is invoking his powers under the province’s Police Act to demand a report within two weeks on what the city will do to arrest a spike in serious crime.

“There’s a lot of finger pointing that goes around on this issue” said Reiniger. “I think the time is now for that to stop and for people to come together and let’s address this constructively and as a community.”

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On Friday, city council discussed and passed a motion to respond to the minister’s letter while also establishing a plan to respond to safety concerns in Chinatown.

The city will spend $300,000 on security for the area. An additional $1 million will be dedicated to community recovery, along with increased enforcement and clarification around city bylaws.

Reiniger says many of the members at Boyle Street Community Services are simply looking for a place to feel safe.

“Frankly, there’s just not places for people to go,” he said. “So you think about almost 3,000 people who are experiencing homelessness, daytime shelter capacity is around 100 people at a time.”

He’s hopeful all levels of government can come together to find a solution.

Shandro casting blame is distraction, say political scientist

Political scientist Lori Williams has trouble seeing how this week’s announcement from Shandro does anything other than create animosity between the city and the province.

“Casting blame and demanding solutions is not realistic,” said Williams.

“This clearly is a distraction meant to call away attention from some of the questions that are swirling around the UCP government, and it’s meant to look like they are doing something about a very real concern that Edmontonians and Albertans are facing.”

Mental health fallout from COVID-19

Reiniger says the biggest issue of concern when it comes to the city’s vulnerable population is the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic: a mental health crisis unlike anything they’ve ever witnessed.

“People who are not able to access those supports, or the supports that are out there frankly aren’t appropriate for the level of complexity people are facing,” he said. “So we are just seeing people wandering around with nowhere to go, without appropriate services and support for them.

“Really it’s a health-based intervention that needs to be there.”

He’s hoping to see more cooperation and less blame.

“We have solutions, we know what some of those solutions are, we just need to come together as a community and make that happen.”