City neglects plight of tent city residents

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/02/2021 (1409 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

On Tuesday morning, at a small encampment on Higgins Avenue, aerosol cans exploded near a tent and engulfed it in flames. They were likely located too close to a fire.

After putting out the blaze, Winnipeg Fire and Paramedic Service members found the body of a resident in the rubble.

This person’s name has yet to be released. Yet, I am certain I know them.

Since the creation of this community last summer, I have patrolled this site with the Mama Bear Clan every Sunday. At one time, the community had about 30 people. On Tuesday, it had about 10, the majority women.

In fact, I was there on Sunday, handing out food, water and clothing.

I remember giving boots and a jacket to a pregnant resident I’ll call “Susan.” She smiled and told me they were her Valentine’s Day gifts.

After we heard about the tragedy, most of the Mama Bear Clan went to the camp to see if we could help. We were turned away by police.

There was not much to see: yellow tape cordoned off the rubble, and clothing, food, and other possessions were scattered on the ground.

We drove up and down Higgins Avenue looking for the residents and asking people in other tent cities if anyone knew who had died.

Many didn’t even know there had been a fire or where the residents went.

I asked about Susan but few knew who she was. In fact, few knew anyone at the site.

Most expressed sadness but had no time to mourn those they don’t know.

I get it. There is no time for such luxuries when you’re sleeping outside in deadly cold temperatures.

Still, we were, as one of our Mama Bear Clan leaders said, in “shock.”

“We were just there talking to them and now they’re gone,” Karen said.

It’s like the story of how they arrived at the camp.

Last June, responding to complaints from the Manitoba Metis Federation and stating they were a “fire and safety hazard,” Winnipeg city officials evicted 40 people from the tent cities on Austin Street and Henry Avenue, literally scattering the community throughout Point Douglas.

None of this addressed the dire state of poverty, housing and cuts to health care, nor the fact people find more safety and security in tent cities than shelters — but it “got rid” of what had become a public issue to Winnipeg commuters who use Disraeli Freeway.

For weeks displaced residents looked for homes, moving their tents first to an industrial park on MacDonald Avenue, then in front of Argyle Alternative High School, then to parks in North Point Douglas and West Elmwood.

In each case, people would settle and stabilize themselves and then be told to leave, often with threats of violence or arrest.

Some are still moving. Want to know who’s living in the bus shacks? Many are from the Austin and Henry tent cities.

Now, many live in several small sites on Higgins Avenue, distant from services, supports, and one another. One group is so far from our Mama Bear Clan patrol that we need to drive to check in on them every week.

The massive tent cities on Austin and Henry had many issues, namely drug use, but residents knew how to address problems.

Each had a loose governing structure, often with a group of leaders making collective decisions on how to share food, medicine, and keep everyone safe. Each had a designated person who kept a sort of “census” by recording who lived where, where people went and how long they were gone.

From the outside, these communities may have looked disorganized, but they were anything but.

They were also constantly full of people. There was near endless traffic in and around the site and community service agencies knew where to go to help people directly. On top of this, staff at Salvation Army and Main Street Project was steps away to help if needed.

For instance, when two fires broke out in teepees in January 2020, there were enough residents nearby to put out one blaze and, when one did burn down, only one person received minor injuries.

No one died. The person who died Tuesday was a victim of this city’s apathy, neglect, and refusal to address its myriad poverty, housing, and health issues. We may have more shelters than ever but we still haven’t dealt with the reality that people who live on the streets want connection, care, and concern and will sleep in life-threatening temperatures to get it.

Later today, the Higgins site will likely be swept away, fenced off, and people will scatter again.

The only thing they did wrong was believe in community, which is something this city could learn from.

niigaan.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca