Rhino’s Ramblings - The Town Hall
By Robert Thomas Opinion/Commentary
Sitting on the SaskJobs servers there is a listing for a job in Moose Jaw.
It looks just another job sitting there waiting to be filled in the Notorious city.
Harmless enough until you take a closer look at it and the issues behind it.
It’s a major clue as to what the provincial government plans to do to address the homelessness, drug addictions, mental health and crime problems that are growing in the downtown core.
The very issues that a few weeks ago a public Town Hall was called by the organization the Good Neighbour Group (GNG).
But in a manner never seen in Moose Jaw before.
This meeting allowed both sides or should I say multi-faceted sides of a seemingly simple but still complex issue.
Screenshot of the job offer from the John Howard Society. It’s almost identical to the initial job posting - source SaskJobs website
And as expected, the meeting was an emotional affair.
Many of the local downtown business crowd expressing their concerns and fears about a temporary homeless shelter located in the former SaskTel building.
Many in the downtown business crowd said they were not opposed to the recovering addicts - there was at least six of them at the Town Hall.
But rather their concerns were about the people who hang out Downtown and commit crimes. It’s out of control for many merchants and needs to be stopped in many business owners minds.
And that is where for more than a few Town Hall attendees the problems lie it is the potential that the temporary homeless shelter may well turn into a permanent fixture in the Downtown.
At the meeting Jodi Oakes from the John Howard Society told attendees that the facility only had funded for three months.
That is until the end of March.
Beer cans and urine greet visitors in front of the Moose Jaw Public Library
If you read the job ad the John Howard Society is running it is now apparent the temporary homeless shelter is going to be extended at least another three months.
Well I can confidently tell you that while attending the Brier last week in Regina I ran into one of my provincial government sources.
And in actuality the temporary homeless shelter has been approved for another six months.
Additionally there is the possibility of making the temporary homeless shelter a more permanent solution.
But if that happens the present location is not going to be a permanent solution as the facility is not suited for a more permanent location.
JUST OVER 100 SHOWED UP FOR THE TOWN HALL ON SUNDAY - MJ INDEPENDENT file PHOTO
Where such a more permanent facility will be located is still up in the air.
I know at the Town Hall there was talk by some if there is to be a permanent homeless shelter it needs to located on the outskirts of Moose Jaw far away from the Downtown core. Far away from the businesses down there and the tourists who venture down there.
It’s an idea that more than a few have said is unworkable for a variety of reasons.
It’s not just about the closeness to services but also the community and closeness people who are homeless, or poor, have developed.
The issue of community came up when there was concerns raised by the group surrounding the John Howard Society at the meeting.
Plans to move the homeless shelter away from the Downtown will fail because of the fact lower income housing surrounds the downtown advocates told the Town Hall.
Nobody, or at least very few, homeless people would head to the outskirts to have a warm bed and be fed - let alone seek help to find permanent shelter and a way out of addictions - was stressed.
And yes, of course, there were those who said that if people were unwilling to seek help at a facility near the City’s outskirts “they really aren’t looking for help.”
It’s hard to give up your social structure for most people - including those who are homeless.
Carolyn Ross was the moderator of the Good Neighbour’s Group’s Town Hall - MJ Independent file photo
But with that said if anything positive came out of the Good Neighbour Group’s Town Hall was the feeling that the system is broken.
And not recently broken. But rather it’s been broken for generations.
It’s a system that cannot address the real problems in a timely manner. Let alone employ common sense solutions to the problems.
This is where the GNG meeting in my opinion broke the boundaries which have existed far too long on many social problems.
Enough is enough.
The government, or rather the system they have created, just isn’t getting it done. It’s not working but stuck in the mud just spinning it’s wheels.
Some spoke about the need to call the politicians and keep them accountable on this issue.
But then there was a breakthrough when it came to the issue at hand.
The breakthrough was, there is no way government is ever going to solve these problems and in fact they’re likely to make things worse.
What was expressed in a voilà moment was the solutions for the problems lie in working together collaboratively as a city to fix them.
Personally I see a lot of merit in this approach.
It’s going take a lot to accomplish. But in the end if they can do it, they’re going to make a dent in an issue that many say has no true solution.
Sleeping inside an ATM located Downtown - MJ Independent file photo
It’s all part of this getting together as a community to hopefully make things better for others.
For the Downtown it’s the same thing.
The only way for the Downtown to at least improve is to work together.
To find a solution to make better lives for those who cannot afford it, or for whatever reason fallen off of the straight and narrow, and the world of drugs and addiction is a lofty goal.
This for me is what I got out of the Good Neighbour’s Group Town Hall.
I know it’s a tall order to fill.
There’s a long way to go but just bringing together the various opinions to discuss the problem without a major civil war is a massive step in the right direction.
They may well fail trying to accomplish the goal but at the same time I personally salute them for at least trying.