‘It’s getting rougher’

Charlottetown encampment residents prepare for winter as modular shelters delayed

While the P.E.I. government struggles to open its two modular emergency shelters in Charlottetown, those living in the city’s biggest tent encampment are facing the effects of sub-zero temperatures outside.

As the days get increasingly cold and wet leading into the winter months, some residents at the Charlottetown Event Grounds tent encampment are doing what they can to keep everyone sheltered.

“It’s getting rougher. It’s cold but we’re managing to get everybody heat,” said Dave Macdonald, who is living at the encampment.

Macdonald said at the moment, there are 21 people staying at the encampment, but noted that number changes depending on the weather.

“Some of the people just can’t put up with it and are coming and going,” he said.

When asked where they go, Macdonald said wherever they can to get out of the cold.

TEMPORARY HEATING

The encampment has access to power and heat from a donated generator, but Macdonald said the cost of fuel is getting expensive to keep it running.

He also said while some staying at the encampment have moved their tents closer to where the generator is stored to get access to heat and electricity, some with more permanent or built-up shelters are too far away to access it safely.

That leaves some people relying on heat from propane torches and stoves, which Macdonald said leaves him worried about the risk of a fire breaking out.

On Oct. 12, police, fire marshals and city staff removed multiple propane tanks, microwaves and other cooking items due to fire concerns.

Macdonald said the city’s fire marshals have since been back to the encampment. He said he asked them for a list of everything they have concerns about and residents are trying to fix those issues before the snow falls.

A LACK OF ALTERNATIVES

The province’s modular emergency shelters, currently being set up in a lot on Park Street, were initially slated to be open by mid-november to give unhoused people a warm place to spend the night throughout the winter.

However, after multiple delays including having the rezoning approved by the City of Charlottetown, there is currently no set date as to when the shelters will open.

"It's any day here now," Matthew Mackay, minister of Social Development and Housing said in a Nov. 30 CBC article on the shelter's delays, which he said were compounded by contractors coming onto the project late and unexpected excavation work. “(My staff are) not giving an exact date. They want to be sure when they do. All I'm being told is it's very soon."

Saltwire Network contacted the Department of Social Development and Housing for an update on the shelters on Dec. 1, however no response was given.

“It’s not going to happen before Christmas, that’s for sure, and if it does it'll be way too late,” was Macdonald's opinion.

NOT A GOOD FIT

Regardless of when the shelters open, Macdonald said the setup won't work for a lot of the encampment’s residents.

“It's terrible the way they are going to run it. It’s like a jail. What are people going to do in the daytime? Where are they going to go?” he said.

“Here, they can sit in their tent and play on their phone or whatever they want to do, but the thing is, it's theirs. You send them to something like that where they are kicked out every day, their self-esteem is going to fall.”

However, there is concern for the encampment’s future once the shelters open. Macdonald said he was told by someone with the province that when the shelters open, there will be a two-week transitional period.

He said he doesn’t know how that will work or what that means for the people who choose to stay at the event grounds, like him.

“If everything is good so the fire marshal can't say anything about it, and everyone is happy, I don’t see any reason why they would kick us out,” he said. “Why would they want to do something like that during the winter? At least give us until the spring.”

WINTER IS COMING

To prepare for winter, Macdonald is in the process of building a semi-permanent, multi-room structure for people to cook, gather in and stay warm.

While most of the structure is already built, Macdonald said he is running out of the materials needed to get it sealed up and insulated before winter hits, such as plywood and tarps.

Macdonald also plans to improve the encampment's heating situation by using a wood-burning forced-air furnace. It will allow residents to run heat without relying on the generator.

“It was a donation. They said if I can find one, they would buy it, so I did,” he said. “I used to work with this stuff back in the day, so I'm pretty familiar with these.”

While the shelter and the furnace will help keep most of the encampment residents warm, if it gets finished, Macdonald said the residents will likely need to find something more permanent in the future.

“I’m just doing this for the winter. That is all I want to do,” he said.

“I want to make sure everybody is warm and is good for the winter. If that works out, in the summer, I am willing to work on any project (to provide housing for the unhoused) out there. Anything that helps everybody, I’ll do it.”