MAYOR HEEDS ST. PAUL BUSINESS AREA CONCERNS

As a long-time advocate of homeless issues, it was a bit of a
surprise Mayor Sharon Shepherd voted against putting in a supportive
housing complex on St. Paul Street.

Shepherd was one of three dissenting votes in Monday's decision to
reaffirm the site chosen in November for the 30-unit housing complex
for those battling addictions and mental illness.

Shepherd said the downtown site was too vulnerable for the residents
and believed the $4.5 million from the province might better have
been spent on upgrading or expanding current services.

Ian Graham, chairman of the homelessness steering committee, wasn't
surprised by Shepherd's response.

"I thought she had another agenda all the way," he said.

The issue was not so much the project, as how it came about, he
explained.

The project, along with moving the Gospel Mission, was hand-picked by
the premier's task force on homelessness last year from a list of
items identified by the homelessness steering committee, some of
which have been funded by federal grants.

The supportive housing wasn't the top priority on the list, Graham
explained, but it was one that the province could easily control
under the Interior Health Authority.

Shepherd, a councillor at the time, had no say in the choice. Former
mayor Walter Gray was involved as a member of the task force, but
city council had no input over what was specifically picked.

As such, when Shepherd was elected mayor in November, she landed with
the project and the resulting controversy.

Graham admitted she was handed a full plate when elected but had
hoped now that the vote was in, she'd get behind the project.

When asked why she didn't advocate for the money to go in different
directions last year, Shepherd said it was really out of her hands.

"I didn't know all the dialogue before and the money that went to all
seven communities," she said.

She had hoped council might want to lobby the government to spend the
money differently. "We didn't debate where the money should go," she
said.

Now she's concerned that if the city gets $4.5 million for this
project, it might be a while before anything comes in for other
projects.

Coun. Michele Rule agreed that there could have been other projects
that could have been funded instead, but felt that the transitional
housing was needed and should be supported.

"There are gaps in the continuum of care," said Rule.

"It helps if we can fill any of them. This fills a gap."

The community was active in its opposition to the project and
Shepherd sees the heightened awareness as a positive dividend.

The next step is to hire a drug policy coordinator and look at
options for moving the Gospel Mission.

At this point, Shepherd said placing it next to the RCMP detachment
downtown would be a logical spot to alleviate the fears people have.