Strategy needs to work across entire province

When Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled a historic $30-billion national strategy to end homelessness within a decade last week, he made his way to Winnipeg with cash in hand — $1 billion in new money toward 2,000 new housing units, with the remainder earmarked for the construction of a centre for mental health and addictions.

The commitment made by the prime minister Friday represents an extraordinary opportunity to make meaningful progress on some of the most troubling social challenges facing our province.

It’s also a welcome recognition that these problems cannot be solved with short-term fixes, fragmented programs or governments passing responsibility from one level to another.

For too long, Manitoba’s response to homelessness and addictions has been underfunded, poorly co-ordinated and inadequate to the scale of the crisis. People struggling with severe mental-health and addiction problems have too often cycled among emergency rooms, shelters, correctional facilities and the streets without receiving the sustained care and housing they need.

Friday’s announcement offers a chance to change that. This plan is neither a magic wand nor a hollow promise; rather, it is a massive, long-overdue foundation that gives us a fighting chance — if the political will exists to execute it properly.

For the first time in a generation, the federal government has stepped up as a serious financial partner, removing the structural roadblock that has paralyzed local efforts for years.

The federal government is committing up to $800 million toward more than 2,000 supportive and transitional housing units, along with $200 million for a new mental-health and addictions centre in Winnipeg. The centre, which could open as early as 2029, is intended to combine acute and outpatient medical care and co-ordinated support services.

That is a significant investment by any measure and one Manitoba desperately needs. Just as encouraging is the broad partnership behind it. Carney stood alongside Premier Wab Kinew, Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham, Indigenous leaders and community organizations to announce the initiative. The private sector, including Winnipeg Jets owners Mark Chipman and David Thomson, also played an important role in advancing the project.

The City of Winnipeg will provide land, the province will fund ongoing services and First Nations will be critical partners.

This kind of collaboration is essential. Homelessness, mental illness and addiction do not respect jurisdictional boundaries. Neither should the response.

Governments, Indigenous communities, businesses and front-line organizations all have important roles to play. Having them working toward a common goal, with substantial resources behind them, is a welcome departure from the fragmented approaches of the past.

But an announcement of this magnitude is only the beginning. The true test of this strategy will play out on the ground in Manitoba, where the bridge between federal funding and human recovery must actually be built.

There are still important questions that need answers before Manitobans can judge how successful this initiative will ultimately be.

Where will the new treatment centre be located? Where will the transitional and supportive housing units be built? How will they be distributed throughout Winnipeg and the province? And perhaps most importantly, what specific wraparound services will be available to residents?

There is also a legitimate concern about what happens after people leave transitional housing.

Manitoba has a significant shortage of permanent affordable and subsidized housing. If people stabilize their lives but cannot find somewhere permanent to live, transitional housing risks becoming another holding pattern rather than a pathway out of homelessness.

As housing advocates have said, there is little point in moving people through transitional accommodation if there is nowhere for them to go next. The province must ensure there is a sufficient supply of permanent housing to support the initiative. Some of the new units may need to be permanent homes themselves.

These are not reasons to diminish Friday’s announcement. They are reasons to get the implementation right.

And part of that implementation must include the rest of the province beyond the Perimeter Highway, including here in Brandon.

Brandon’s homelessness situation is entirely on par with Winnipeg, and may even exceed it on a per capita basis. Both communities are dealing with a severe lack of accessible infrastructure, but the need for more and better mental health supports in the Wheat City has even been pointed out by the Brandon Police Service. It simply isn’t feasible to send everyone who needs such housing and health supports to Winnipeg.

Brandon Mayor Jeff Fawcett has confirmed that Brandon will be part of the province’s plan to end homelessness. And while we’re glad to see that reassurance, it will need to be more than a token effort and a photo-op for a federal or provincial minister.

The arrival of massive federal funding and structured intergovernmental co-ordination is an undeniable, historic step forward. It provides the heavy scaffolding our communities have desperately lacked.

Kinew’s government now has an enormous responsibility to turn that commitment into effective treatment, meaningful support and stable housing.

Ending homelessness is an ambitious goal, and there are no guarantees that even $1 billion will accomplish it.

But Manitoba has never had this kind of opportunity before, and it has the makings of real, transformative change.

Let’s make sure we implement a solid plan forward right across the province, not just in Winnipeg.

» Winnipeg Free Press and The Brandon Sun