Edmontonians rally at city hall to demand more shelter spaces

About two dozen people carried signs, some hollered into a megaphone, in front of Edmonton City Hall Monday to demand more support for the most vulnerable people in the city.

“We’re tired of cleaning up your mess. People are dying and suffering out here!” said Angela Stains, founder of 4B Harm Reduction Society.

“The extent of the frostbite injuries that we see are absolutely traumatizing and horrific. We are seeing frostbite injuries from last year still healing and now we’re going into another winter.”

Stains organized the full-day rally. She wants Edmonton to commit to adding new 24/7 harm-reduction shelter beds.

“We need shelter beds and we need them now and we need to stop talking about it and having conversations about it, and it just needs to be done,” she said.

Edmonton Fire Rescue Services has responded to 17 fires involving tents between September first and mid-November. Two people died in those blazes.

In the same time period, the Canadian Mental Health Association received more than 4,500 ‘211’ calls from people seeking relief from the elements, an increase of 2.4 per cent over last year.

When asked about adding harm-reduction shelter beds, Mayor Amarjeet Sohi reaffirmed his commitment to trying to secure funding from other levels of government.

“It breaks my heart to see people struggling and going unsheltered, and we will continue to advocate, asking the province to continue to step up and do their part,” Sohi said.

Rachelle Gladue, an Indigenous social work student, said she carries Naloxone around her waist almost everywhere she goes because of scary situations he's witnessed in the city.

“People are kind of going towards the unsafe, toxic supply out there and a lot of people are dying. We don't have safe consumption sites. I think there’s one and it’s not well funded,” Gladue said.

“I worked at the Commonwealth shelter earlier this year and I can't even count how many overdoses I responded to.”

Gladue wants to see Edmonton Police Service officers to carry Naloxone as well.

Sohi said that's an initiative he’d like to explore as well. An EPS spokesperson said the service is currently working to supply all frontline officers with kits.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Marek Tkach