HALIFAX — It may be necessary to use police to clear homeless people from a tent encampment in a city park because “extensive” alternative efforts have not worked, Halifax Mayor Mike Savage said Thursday.

Last month, the city cited health and safety concerns, including a rat infestation, as it told people living in Meagher Park they had to leave by July 17 so work could begin to clean up the park. People without housing have been staying in the park for about a year.

“People have a right to housing. It doesn't mean that they have a right to choose exactly where they want to be housed, as long as we give them reasonable, safe, accessible, sustainable options,” Savage said in an interview.

“And that's what we've been working towards,” he said, noting the creation of 64 modular housing units in Halifax and Dartmouth and planned affordable housing projects with the provincial and federal governments.

The Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia reported that as of Tuesday, there are 643 unhoused people in Halifax, a number that’s risen by more than 20 since mid-June. The city has 200 shelter beds.

During a special meeting Tuesday, municipal councillors endorsed a plan allowing the city to call on Halifax Regional Police to remove those still living in Meagher Park after the deadline for leaving passed.

Max Chauvin, the city special projects manager for homelessness, said during the meeting that neighbours of the park are distressed by the presence of people camping in tents and there have been reports of violence and shouting at the park as well as feces and needles.

"We have people who have reported to us that they’ve developed PTSD from those experiences," Chauvin told council.

In June, the city approved four parks where up to 32 people without homes can set up tents and receive services including running water and bathrooms, but Meagher Park, near the city's downtown, was not on the list.

Savage said the city is not considering making Meagher Park a designated tenting site because it is near a school and playground, but the city is willing to establish more outdoor sites for sheltering if it identifies more “suitable locations.”

Calista Hills, a volunteer who works with the people living in Meagher Park, saidin an interview Tuesday that some of the nine people currently living there have considered moving to one of the four approved tent sites, but they fear losing the sense of community and the support provided at the park.

Hills is concerned that the city’s decision to involve police in a park eviction could result in violence, as it did last August when police used pepper spray and arrested 24 people protesting the dismantling of temporary wooden shelters outside the former public library.

Savage said the city and the police “do not want this to be escalated to a difficult situation.”

Halifax housing advocacy groups P.A.D.S. Community Network said in a statement Tuesday that Nova Scotia’s response to the growing housing and homelessness crisis is inadequate and “police evictions of people in tents and shelters are wrong, especially when there are no better options.”

The mayor said city outreach staff are still working to connect with people in the park and see if they’re willing to move voluntarily.

If the city decides it is time to bring in the police, the executive director of parks and recreation will make the call to Halifax Regional Police. Savage did not give a timeline for when the city might make this call.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 4, 2022.

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

Shiite Muslims take part in a mourning ritual in Iraq's southern city of Basra.View on euronews

News bulletin 2022/08/08 11:14View on euronews

News bulletin 2022/08/06 23:45View on euronews

News bulletin 2022/08/07 23:16View on euronews

WASHINGTON (AP) — Over five decades in Washington, Joe Biden knew that the way to influence was to be in the room where it happens. But in the second year of his presidency, some of Biden’s most striking, legacy-defining legislative victories came about by staying out of it. A summer lawmaking blitz has sent bipartisan bills addressing gun violence and boosting the nation’s high-tech manufacturing sector to Biden’s desk, and the president is now on the cusp of securing what he called the “final

At a World War Two memorial event in the Solomons' capital, Honiara, Sherman rebuked governments that she said sought to dismantle the rules-based international order. The Solomons surprised their neighbour Australia, and the United States, this year by striking a security pact with China. "President Biden has made solidarity with the Pacific Islands a priority for his entire administration from the very beginning," Sherman said at the event, also attended by top diplomats from Australia and New Zealand.

HAPPY CAMP, Calif. — A wildfire burning in a remote area just south of the Oregon border appears to have caused the deaths of tens of thousands of Klamath River fish, the Karuk Tribe said Saturday. The tribe said in a statement that the dead fish of all species were found Friday near Happy Camp, California, along the main stem of the Klamath River. Tribal fisheries biologists believe a flash flood caused by heavy rains over the burn area caused a massive debris flow that entered the river at or

Russian shelling hits furniture factory in Kharkiv and residential buildings in Kostantynivka.View on euronews

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden tested negative for COVID-19 on Saturday but will continue to isolate at the White House until a second negative test, his doctor said. Dr. Kevin O'Connor wrote in his latest daily update that the president, “in an abundance of caution,” will abide by the "strict isolation measures” in place since his “rebound” infection was detected July 30, pending a follow-up negative result. Biden, 79, came down with the virus a second time three days after he had emerge

Sarah Hamilton spent a recent Wednesday afternoon busily cutting fresh rhubarb in the basement of Sacred Heart Cathedral in Whitehorse. Beside her was Fiona McTaggart, equally hard at work preparing a batch of doughnuts. Together, the long-time friends own Sourdoughnuts, a popular artisan pop-up doughnut shop located in Yukon’s capital city. The pair, who are also both musicians, decided to launch the business in 2017, with Hamilton flexing skills she learned in pastry school and McTaggart drawi

Newly elected Liberal Leader Susan Holt says she's not in a rush to find her way into the legislature, but the party's longest-serving MLA says he's willing to make it happen as soon as she's ready. Within minutes of Holt's victory, Bathurst East-Nepisiguit-Saint Isidore MLA Denis Landry said he told her he'd be willing to step down to trigger a byelection in which she could be the Liberal candidate. "I already offered that to Susan," he told CBC News Saturday as the leadership convention wrappe

CIVITANOVA MARCHE, Italy (AP) — Black Italians marched through a well-to-do Adriatic beach town Saturday demanding that authorities reverse themselves and recognize the role of race in the brutal daylight killing of a Nigerian immigrant. Several witnesses filmed the July 29 assault but failed to physically intervene. A widely circulated video showed a man wrestling to the ground and strangling street vendor Alika Ogorchukwu, 39. Onlookers shouted for the aggressor to stop but didn't come to Ogor

There are at least two millionaires in Toronto who don't know it yet. The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) says no one has claimed a $55 million Lotto Max prize, adding the ticket was sold somewhere in Toronto. The jackpot winning ticket was drawn on Friday, with no claimants. Another ticket, drawn June 28, with a jackpot prize of $70 million has also not been claimed, OLG says. That ticket was also sold in Toronto. Claimants have one year from the draw date to claim their prize. Pla

This parrot has something very important to share with the world - watch him as he blows kisses into the miniature microphone, and then proceed to whistle a tune with his owner. Notice how he stops at the exact moment where she needs to chime in! So precious!

A sculptor has been working in the intense summer heat to restore a statue in Summerside, P.E.I., that's withstood the elements for 100 years. The monument honouring 220 soldiers from Prince County who died in the First World War has been in the Veteran's Memorial Park just behind Summerside city hall since 1922. To commemorate the statue's 100th anniversary, the city has commissioned sculptor Brett Davis to freshen it up. Davis was in charge of the restoration of the Charlottetown cenotaph 20 y

Debra Messing is excited to bring "13: The Musical" to a global audience, while her co-star Eli Golden said his life has paralleled his character's. (Aug. 8)

The price of gasoline and diesel oil in Nova Scotia dropped Saturday after taking a significant tumble the day before. Gasoline and diesel prices fell by nine cents and six cents per litre, respectively, as part of a weekly price adjustment on Friday. At 12:01 a.m. Saturday, those prices fell another 10 and seven cents per litre, respectively, because of "significant shifts in the market prices of gasoline and diesel oil," according to the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board. The minimum price

A four-time Gold Cup & Saucer winner ended up in the hospital this weekend following a scary harness racing crash at Charlottetown's Red Shores Race Track & Casino. New Brunswick native Gilles Barrieau, driving Island Beach Boy, was thrown backwards while he was fending off a late challenge in the 12th race of Saturday's card. He was then run over by the horse that was right behind him. "[Island Beach Boy] was sent to the front, and as they reached the 3/4 pole near the end of the race, there wa

News bulletin 2022/08/08 10:16View on euronews

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met the Philippine's President Ferdinand Marcos Jr during an Asia tour amid rising tensions with China