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City clean-up crews and members of the Edmonton Police Service halted the removal of the final “high risk” encampment on Monday morning, said advocates who were on site.

Jim Gurnett, with the Edmonton Coalition on Housing and Homelessness, has been on the ground at the encampment removals that have been taking place since the end of December. He told Postmedia that Monday’s removal which included the eighth and final encampment was halted. He suspected it may have been due to the city’s extreme weather response activation.

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Gurnett said encampments are not allowed to be taken down once the extreme weather protocol is in place.

“I think because we’re right on the edge of minus 20 C. The temperature is minus 18 C now. I’m guessing that they decided that it was so cold and with the protocol starting decided not to go ahead. I don’t know for sure,” Gurnett said.

Postmedia reached out to EPS for comment but they deferred to the city, which is taking the lead on the encampment removals.

Karen Zypchyn, spokeswoman with the City of Edmonton, said in a statement to Postmedia that they are unable to confirm the next closure date of encampments, but said the city is following “court order requirements for all encampment closures.”

“The process is dynamic and logistically complex. The city is working closely with the Government of Alberta, Edmonton Police Service and social agencies with a continued focus on the safety of the people living in the encampments,” said Zypchyn.

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The city did not confirm what may have put a stop to Monday morning’s encampment removal.

‘Lost patience’

Gurnett said encampments have already reappeared in areas where city clean-up crews and EPS have taken them down. The encampment behind the Bissell Centre that was removed on Jan. 3 is already beginning to re-form.

“It seems like a very futile attempt. They’ve torn down hundreds and hundreds of campsites and there’s as many or more people camping as there were when they started the process,” said Gurnett. 

Coun. Andrew Knack said while he appreciates the 1,700 shelter spaces provided by the government, he needs answers about shelter standards and how they are operating.

“To anyone who has spent one minute outside in the areas where we have a lot of these encampments, these spaces are clearly not enough because these individuals are choosing not to go to a shelter,” said Knack. 

“I’ve lost patience on the province’s unwillingness to answer the most basic of questions, which is, what standards are you using?” 

Seniors, Community and Social Services Minister Jason Nixon said in a statement to Postmedia the province includes shelter guidelines as part of all grant funding agreements with shelter operators. He said they updated the guidelines last year.

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“These guidelines relate to health and safety and general shelter operations such as access to shelter, client information, information and referral services and infection and disease control, and are reviewed and renewed annually,” said Nixon.

“Changes made to the shelter accommodation expectations closely align with Edmonton’s minimum shelter standards. Updates included providing more cultural and spiritual supports, increasing the focus on connections to housing, employment and income supports, and ensuring shelters can provide a trauma-informed space for all clients. Shelter staff underwent additional training with a housing-focused approach to better serve the vulnerable shelter population.”

Deep cold settles in Edmonton

The City of Edmonton activated its extreme weather response on Monday afternoon to “help keep vulnerable Edmontonians safe” during the cold weather. The response is scheduled to end on Jan. 18 at noon but, according to the city’s website, will be extended if extreme conditions persist beyond the timeframe.

The threshold for activating the response is a temperature of -20 C with wind chill for at least three consecutive nights. Open city spaces are opened to the public such as recreation centres and libraries but the LRT system and stations are not a part of the extreme weather response.

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There will be a third bus added to the overnight winter shelter shuttle service, 50 temporary emergency shelter spaces will open at Al Rashid Mosque in north Edmonton and the city’s encampment response will “prioritize the health and safety of all community members.” A news release from the city said encampment enclosures will only occur when deemed high risk based on the encampment risk assessment.

On Monday, the Edmonton Blatchford weather station forecasted -19 C for Monday with seven km/h wind out of the southwest and a wind chill of -24 C. This week the city will see up to 10 cm of snow with snow fallingl beginning Monday night with a low of -20 C and a wind chill of -29 C.

Tuesday is when the real snowfall is set to hit Edmonton with a high of -13 C and flurries beginning early morning and persisting overnight.

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