In the past, University Bridge has been a popular spot for Saskatoon’s homeless to camp beneath.
However, an encampment fire on Jan. 19 melted a sewer line running beneath the bridge, sending thousands of gallons of raw sewage onto the bridge and into the river valley below.
The incident closed the bridge to traffic for days while the sewer line was repaired, though the damage to the Meewasin River trails is still being cleared. With the damaged sewer line repaired, the city is looking to keep future encampments out from under the crossing.
At a city council meeting on Jan. 29th, the city announced its plans to erect a razor-wire fence below the bridge where encampments might be set up.
Saskatoon Mayor Cynthia Block says the decision was made from concern for the bridge’s safety, as well as council’s focus on tackling the homeless crisis.
“The ability to keep our city safe with the, you know, with some construction around the university bridge to prevent that type of encampment will be extremely important for people who are unhoused to prevent them from being in that location,” Block said.
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While the fence is a temporary solution to security concerns, Block wants to focus on providing homeless with transitional housing rather than continuously relying on shelters to provide needed services. Coun. Robert Pearce voiced his support for the notion.
“I think shelters eventually need to need to translate into a one-to-three-night stay,” Pearce said. “And in that one to three days, those people are being placed in actual homes and places where they can get the support and the wraparound services that they need.”
Just like encampments, Block notes shelters aren’t homes where people can plan for things other than their survival.
“You’re able to be less vulnerable when you are in a safe place. And when you’re less vulnerable, it gives you an opportunity to think about what are the other changes you might want to make in your life or what are the supports you might like to have,” Block said.
According to Pearce, solving the problem of homelessness begins with more funding, something he says council is fully aware of.
“It’s very evident to me this city council sees and understands the crisis that’s unfolding, that we need to reverse it and we need to lobby the province to obviously to step up because a lot of this is funding that they need to bring forward,” Pearce said.
Acknowledging there’s still much work for council to do, Block says understanding the need for homeless encampments is a good first step towards their eventual reduction.
“Why are they in an encampment rather than taking the opportunity to be connected to a safety and resource that is warm during that cold weather? And we know we have capacity, so what’s preventing that?” Block said.
“And I think those will be some of the challenges that we’re going to face going forward.”
A report on next steps addressing Saskatoon’s homeless problems is expected to be given to council in March later this year.
