'We’ve already had one too many people freeze to death in the city': Unhoused group wants extra funding from council
A recently-formed Saskatoon group is hoping their presentation to city council creates change for those who face a lack of housing in the city.
The Saskatoon Unhoused Initiative was formed in October and with the help of donations they are handing out warm clothing, blankets and food on a wintery Monday outside city hall.
Sheila Tataquason faced homelessness between 2005 and 2008 in various cities across Canada, and while she now has a place to live, she knows the struggles those on the streets face.
She says she’s worked at various jobs, but found it difficult to pay the rent in the past which made her choose between eating and paying rent.
This event hit close to home for her.
“I’m here because I care for the people that are sleeping outside. Because I’ve experienced it and I know what it’s like to be sleeping outside in the winter,“ Tataquason told CTV News.
Members of the group also presented to city council Monday hoping for change from the city. Mikayla Schultz was one of those who addressed council.
“Our councillors and our mayor hear the voices from businesspeople, landlords, service providers, but it seems no one is listening to the people who are actually experiencing homelessness,” said Schultz, who is a member of Saskatoon Unhoused Initiative told CTV News.
One things that could be done quickly is to have round the clock emergency warm up locations, says Schultz.
Some suggestions for overnight warmup shelters include a stationary city bus, heated and open to the public — already in place in Regina — and heated bus shelters.
“A lot of our group members are asking for 24-hour warmup shelters because a lot of the warm up spots are only like a nine to five sort of thing so there’s nothing available overnight,” Schultz says.
Schultz worries what will happen as the weather cools down if no solution is found.
“Just to get them out of the cold because we’ve already had one too many people freeze to death in the city.”
With the Saskatoon Tribal Council’s new larger wellness center opening in Fairhaven this week, it’s hoped some of the pressures for those who are unhoused will ease.
The Unhoused group will continue to be out on the streets providing hands-on help, but ultimately hope city officials see the need to fund more solutions.
“I’m hoping that they realize it’s not only an organization’s problem but the city as a whole,” Tataquason said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Competition bureau finds 'substantial' anti-competitive effects with proposed Bunge-Viterra merger
The proposed merger of agricultural giants Viterra and Bunge is raising competition concerns from the federal government.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
BREAKING Mounties will not be charged in shooting death of B.C. Indigenous man
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021.
Canada's favourite sport to watch is hockey, survey shows
The 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs have already delivered a fever level of fan excitement in Canada.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.