You might have read in the news about the Edmonton Police's unilateral decision to sweep and dismantle encampments across the city in December 2023. This is the largest decampment event in the city's history.
Despite a court injunction and massive public outcry, the police have proceeded with their violent plan and have started to dismantle the camps.
The police are failing to address the most basic question posed by housing and homelessness advocates: after the police sweep and destroy the encampment, where are displaced people meant to go?
There are not enough shelter beds. And the shelter spaces we do have do not meet minimum requirements for health and safety. There just are not enough supports in place to ensure that the people living in encampments have access to shelter, housing options, and other much-needed wraparound supports. And in the absence of these requirements, the encampment sweeps must be stopped.
Our Executive Director Bradley Lafortune has been in the media for weeks demanding an end to this inhumane practice. But we need your help.
We have prepared an open letter addressed to the Amarjeet Sohi, the Mayor of Edmonton, asking to convene an emergency City Council meeting to explore the Council's power to call for a moratorium on these encampment sweeps. You can read the letter here.
Will you join over 3000 other Albertans and sign on to this letter?
The solutions to this crisis are complex, but we know one thing for sure: violent displacement is not the answer.
