By Lisa Johnson
The phone conversation comes after Housing Minister Sean Fraser said in a statement Tuesday that Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan have not formally responded to an offer of funding.
Officials say during the call, Jason Nixon, Alberta’s Minister of Seniors and Community and Social Services, expressed his government’s continued willingness to partner with Ottawa and match the costs of federal funding additional.
They say Nixon and Fraser agreed to provide initial funding to “priority communities” in Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge and Red Deer.
Officials say the ministers ordered their respective camps to meet in the coming days to reach an agreement that the money would be released to these communities as a matter of urgency.
Nixon had said earlier that his officials were actively meeting with Ottawa on the issue, that the province had received no agreement and that he was not aware of any deadline.
Ottawa has committed $250 million over two years in its budget to provide more accommodation spaces, transition houses, harm reduction spaces and services.
Fraser said Tuesday that Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan have not yet officially signed on to the project.
The minister said he sent a September 18 letter with the aim of working with all provinces and territories.
“In the letter, we offered millions of dollars in additional funding in exchange for partnering with us and matching our contribution,” he said.
Fraser said he would go directly to cities to try to quickly match funding costs, including Edmonton and Calgary.
“We will no longer wait for (provinces) to muster the political will to act as winter approaches and lives are put at risk,” he said.
Nixon called Fraser’s comments “bizarre and almost childish,” saying officials from both parties had met, including as recently as Monday, to discuss a cost-sharing deal.
“We have no idea what Minister Fraser is talking about. And I’m not going to get too bogged down in that, because we have a more important job to do than playing games with the federal government,” Nixon said.
“The conversation interested us, that’s why we participated in it. But we certainly don’t have any offers and we certainly never had a deadline. »
Ontario Housing Minister Paul Calandra was also baffled by Fraser’s decision.
“Until today, we were under the impression that we were still working with the federal government on this file,” he said in a statement Tuesday, adding that he looked forward to a meeting with Fraser scheduled for next year. next week.
Saskatchewan is in the middle of a provincial election campaign, with voting day taking place on Monday. His government was officially dissolved on October 1.
Fraser acknowledged in his statement that some provinces had entered an election period since he sent his original letter, but said there was “sufficient engagement prior to sending the letter, and he does not There’s more time to wait as the weather gets colder.”
In a statement released Wednesday before the phone call with Nixon, Fraser’s office reiterated that the deadline was the cold weather beginning to set in and endangering unhoused people.
“When we sent our original letter, we asked the Government of Alberta to indicate which municipalities need funding, and we have not yet answered that question. We cannot wait any longer and those who live in neither are the camps,” he said.
Nixon said conversations between officials indicated the Alberta government could receive $17 million a year for two years.
He said the province is ready for winter with its emergency shelter capacity.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s government has passed legislation to monitor and veto any agreements reached between municipalities and the federal government. The law is not expected to come into force until early 2025.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published October 23, 2024.
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Last modification: October 24, 2024