Central Alberta city to close homeless camp as future plans unknown

WETASKIWIN, Alta. - A central Alberta metropolis is closing a homeless encampment with assist from Mounties due to security dangers it says will persist if it stays open.

Wetaskiwin voted final week to shut “tent metropolis” as most, if not all, individuals who had been dwelling there are actually utilizing the close by warming shelter run by the Mustard Seed or the Samson Cree shelter.

Native hearth providers say they attended a number of fire-related calls to the camp because it opened in August, together with one extreme construction hearth the place “the potential of dying was very imminent,” and two cases the place individuals sustained critical burns after falling into flames.

RCMP say they attended 37 calls associated to assault, theft, weapons and arson.

At one level, as much as 60 individuals lived tough within the camp after the town compelled the closure of its solely shelter, however numbers dwindled with frigid temperatures and hindered social company helps.

Provincial funding for the short-term shelter, which is a stone’s throw from the camp, is in place till March with no clear plans by the town on what occurs if or when it closes.

This report by The Canadian Press was first revealed Jan. 28, 2022.