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After at least four visits from firefighters over the previous 10 days, a City of Winnipeg cleanup crew spent Monday dealing with a dangerous Mostyn Park homeless encampment.

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A statement provided by the city to The Winnipeg Sun downplayed the intervention, saying it was “to help remove some debris left behind by a recent fire” at the site near the Granite Curling Club.

“WFPS regularly visits reported encampments to ensure public safety and conduct welfare checks,” the release said.

However, it wasn’t after a run-of-the-mill grass fire. Nearby residents had already provided Mayor Scott Gillingham and other officials, including Regional Councilor Sherri Rollins, with photos, videos and eyewitness accounts that public safety had been under almost constant threat since the spring.

Pat McNorgan emailed Rollins about fires and propane tank explosions that nearly engulfed three apartment buildings in Balmoral on the night of October 19.

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“Two huge fires last night. The first, at 3:00 a.m., right next to the fence of 39 Balmoral, about 10 feet from the building, was the largest fire I have witnessed in my 18 years here. Lots of explosions. If the wind had blown from the east, it would have easily set the 39 on fire.”

McNorgan said the second fire occurred “about 40 feet from the back fence with numerous explosions and ignited the upper branches of trees in the area as well as 20 to 30 feet in circumference.” I was concerned that we would have a forest fire and, under different conditions, that would have been the case.

Calling on the city to take preventative measures, McNorgan warned: “There is going to be a real tragedy if this continues. 37, 39 and 41 Balmoral Streets are at extreme fire risk due to people camping next to apartment buildings. The danger is VERY real as we saw last night, not only from the fires but also from the shrapnel from the exploding tanks.

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Other serious concerns about the camp compromising safety on West Broadway include a thriving bike shop, rampant drug use, 40-foot extension cords stealing electricity and overflowing trash cans making the bike path unusable.

Reports indicate fire crews were on scene on October 18, twice on October 19 and again for a fire on October 26.

Still, city officials insist the risk to the public does not rise to the threshold required to evict the illegal camp and ensure the safety of the nearby Canada Life daycare and apartment residents affected by the fires, beatings hammers, screams, fights and piles of used syringes.

“We do not disrupt any active encampment unless there is an immediate risk to public safety. In this case, we were asked to remove the burned debris (by the firefighters). »

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A South Bank Assiniboine River resident who asked not to be identified contacted Gillingham and Premier Wab Kinew, his Fort Rouge MP, insisting they restore peace and security for residents overlooking the Assiniboine River. According to him, city policy perpetuates the crisis.

“By cleaning up after the debris, it just makes it more attractive for tents to come back.” We continue to spend taxpayer dollars on this rinse and repeat cycle. The Legislative Assembly grounds are very clean and tidy, but the park in front of the daycare has been invaded.

According to the city’s press release, “we will only dismantle an encampment once its abandonment has been confirmed by supporting agencies and our own investigations.” At this point we simply remove the remaining materials. »

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This contradicts information posted on the city’s website regarding the encampments, which states: “If there is persistent behavior that poses a risk to life and safety, we may order residents to vacate the site.” »

This is why a camp in the same place was evicted exactly five years ago. And at the time, Councilman Rollins was all for it.

“They need to leave,” she told CBC in 2020, adding, “The encampment has been a real disruption to the neighborhood,” highlighting criminal and unsavory activity.

Upon contacting Rollins, McNorgan reminded him: “You must remember a few years ago when you came here to check things out. You wouldn’t go to the village and say that this was unacceptable? It’s even worse now.

Yet even though there is a continuing pattern of chaos beyond the level that resulted in an order to evacuate in 2020, the illegal camp “with banners at the park entrance claiming it and acting as a warning of do not enter,” McNorgan told Rollins — was not removed Monday.

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“Obviously some parks are too glamorous and so it falls to our little park shoehorn to bear the brunt of this neighborhood-destroying crisis,” McNorgan told the Sunciting “people urinating and shitting in the bushes and in the Assiniboine River.”

“It seems to me that the city and province are reluctant to do anything for taxpayers (and voters) in the face of the obvious dangers this situation poses, not only in terms of property damage and physical injury, but also in terms of peripheral damage caused by a large group of people. addicted to meth. Of course, this spills over into the rest of the area in the form of violence and damage to surrounding residences,” McNorgan said.

“I think most people who don’t live with this have no idea how stressful it is and therefore take the side of the campers. I would invite them to welcome dozens of these people into their own backyard and neighborhood for a few months.

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Councilor Rollins told the Sun“It’s not a common perspective for me to share about the encampments” this needs to go. When I say it, I mean it. This is usually when there are multiple life safety issues, such as repeated fires, crime, rape tents, injurious fires, etc., and when they are near children. Granite has had ongoing issues.

“In my opinion, repeated fires causing injuries and criminal acts constitute emergency situations,” she said, while warning that “the courts do not support cities in evacuating encampments.”

— Marty Gold is a journalist from Winnipeg. You can find more of his work at The Great Canadian Talk Show.

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