Friends of Downtown Halifax

Public Voices For A Better Downtown.

[Friends of Downtown Halifax @FriendsOfHFX]

@HalifaxWater Hello. Residents in several buildings and hotels in downtown Halifax are reporting loss of water pressure this evening (February 20), which started sometime between 10pm and 11pm. There is no notifications on your website or social feeds about any service interruptions in the downtown area, and your 24/7 emergency phone line is not picking up. Can you please let the residents of the area know what’s going on? You’re a critical utility provider. Please do better!

[CTV News Atlantic @CTVAtlantic]

High acuity encampment residents in Halifax pose unique challenge for service providers https://t.co/rrcXj2Ejdj

[Friends of Downtown Halifax @FriendsOfHFX]

The last remaining encampment in downtown Halifax (university avenue) is in the process of being de-designated. As with the previous two encampments, occupants will be relocated to indoor shelter and housing options, or to other designated outdoor encampment sites outside the downtown core.

We’re glad to see common sense return to city hall, and a recognition that encampments should be managed proactively and relocated to more appropriate areas where they can receive services while reducing the impact on highly sensitive economic and residential zones.

[CityNews Halifax @CityNewsHFX]

HRM de-designating homeless encampment due to winter safety concerns

https://t.co/oaxs0viI7P

[Friends of Downtown Halifax @FriendsOfHFX]

As library workers enter their second week of job action, our beautiful downtown library remains closed to the public. Two items require resolution: higher wages and staff safety concerns - mainly due to increased confrontations with individuals experiencing mental health and drug addiction issues.

In a recent article, a library staffer at the North End Library noted that he responds to multiple drug overdose incidents each week, where he applies Narcan/Naloxone and contacts 911 for an ambulance. This happens despite the existence of a designated safe injection site one block away (Brunswick Street Mission). Staff in downtown Halifax and Dartmouth libraries have similar experiences.

While it is understood that drug use in the library is prohibited, the Halifax public library’s customer conduct policy only uses general language against activity that “prevents the enjoyment of the library by others”, and directs customers to use “library property and materials as intended”. Presumably, library bathrooms are not intended for drug consumption.

We call on the Halifax Public Library to update their customer conduct policy and be more prescriptive about what constitutes prohibited conduct. The update will provide respondents with a clearer policy reference when handling non-compliance issues and banning repeat offenders. It will also bring our conduct policy in line with other Canadian jurisdictions.

From the most progressive to the most conservative, nearly all major cities have specific language against drug use and intoxication on the premises.

We dug into library policies of other Canadian jurisdictions to provide the following non-exhaustive list, with quotes from each city’s library conduct policy:

VANCOUVER, BC:

Public libraries are for everyone’s use and enjoyment. For the benefit and safety of others, library users must NOT:

• Consume alcohol, be drunk or disorderly, or use illicit drugs
• Sleep, or place feet on library furniture

——
VICTORIA, BC:

As a user of the Greater Victoria Public Library, I agree to:

• abstain from trafficking, consuming, or being under the obvious influence of controlled drugs and substances or alcohol while on Library property.

——
CALGARY, AB:

Some behaviours are unacceptable and may result the loss of Library privileges including: 

•Using intoxicating substances 

——
EDMONTON, AB

Disruptive and/or inappropriate conduct by an individual(s) includes, but is not limited to:

•Sleeping
•Use of alcohol and drugs includes possession and being under the influence.

——
LONDON, ON

Behaviour and activities which are not permitted include:

•Consuming, selling or using alcohol or illegal drugs on library property
•Visible intoxication by alcohol or drugs

——
OTTAWA, ON

Certain behaviours are not acceptable when using the Library or when on Library property, including:

•Intoxication or using any intoxicating substances.
•Sleeping for prolonged periods of time.

——
WINNIPEG, MB

Examples of behaviour that is NOT allowed include:

•Intoxication or substance abuse

——
REGINA, SK

•Customers shall not traffic, consume, or be under the obvious influence of alcohol, drugs, or other substances, while on library property.

•Sleeping is not permitted in the library.

——
NEW BRUNSWICK

The following conduct, exhibited by any patron, will not be tolerated in a library:

•possession/use/selling of illegal or dangerous substances or objects (examples include the use of illegal drugs and alcohol, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of explosives);

——
PEI

Conduct that is illegal, disruptive, unsafe, and/or inappropriate that prevents the enjoyment of the Library by others, or interferes with Library operations, is not permitted. This list includes, but is not limited to:

• Sleeping
•The sale, consumption or visible intoxication of alcohol and/or drugs

@hfxpublib

https://t.co/i3KsZmd9Qf

[Friends of Downtown Halifax @FriendsOfHFX]

For clarification, we said “primarily used for”. As in, libraries have other uses as well, but the main use is what we described. We said this because that’s what the majority of users do at a library, and it’s what the vast majority of the physical space inside is dedicated to. Books, digital resources, computers, learning resources and workshops, etc.

Other than that correction, we do agree with everything you said in your response. Libraries are for everyone’s use.

Now back to the specific proposition in the article, do you agree that using a library as a safe space to do drugs is one of the acceptable uses of a library?

[Friends of Downtown Halifax @FriendsOfHFX]

We understand you have strong feelings against our group. We welcome healthy debate, but any rebuttal needs to be grounded in truth for that to happen. Instead, you’ve setup a strawman, then proceeded to dismantle your own setup.

Our comment clearly indicates that everyone should be welcome to use the library for its intended purpose. This is true regardless of income, social standing, or housing status.

You did not address or dispute the main claim in our comment, which is that libraries should not be used for sleeping and shooting drugs. We’ve highlighted undesirable activities at libraries, not undesirable people.

The reason you did this is because what we are saying makes sense, is non-controversial, and is obviously supported by the majority of the public. There’s nothing in the comment that can be credibly disputed.

Being a safe place to sleep and consume illegal narcotics, which is the main topic of this article, is not the purpose of a library. This is not only how the majority of the public feels, but the majority of library staff as well.

FDH is proud of its work representing the concerns of its members, including residents, visitors, workers and businesses in the downtown area. We do so while working with decision makers to provide feedback and recommend balanced, practical, community-oriented solutions to the challenges of homelessness in our neighborhoods.

[Friends of Downtown Halifax @FriendsOfHFX]

“Multiple times per week, he (Hansen) responds to overdoses in library bathrooms — administering naloxone and calling an ambulance.”

“I can come in and curl up in one of the chairs if I haven’t slept all night and crash for a few hours and know that I’m safe.”

Our public libraries should not serve as makeshift homeless shelters or safe injection sites. The unhoused should be welcomed to use the library for its intended purpose only.

No one wants to take their children or grandchildren to our beautiful library on Spring Garden and find people using chairs as beds, or discover addicts overdosing in the bathrooms.

The premise of this article should be “we need to make libraries safe and attractive for the public who will fund these higher wage asks”, not “how fast can we get addicts and the homeless back into the library so they can sleep and shoot-up drugs more safely”.

https://t.co/61iZzvkEMj

[Friends of Downtown Halifax @FriendsOfHFX]

https://t.co/DvvqgGNFJU

We support the designation of additional sites to house homeless tents in HRM. This acknowledges the reality that homelessness will not be solved any time soon, and that encampments need to be managed in the meantime.

We continue to advocate that sensitive sites with high public/family use, such as downtown parks, Point Pleasant Park and the Commons, are never used for encampments.

We are also happy to see that, during Tuesday’s council meeting, some members of council (mayoral hopefuls even!) are publicly acknowledging the criminal element that accompanies these encampments, and questioning the lack of policing against the reported sale and distribution of illegal narcotics, prostitution, human trafficking, thefts and other crimes.

[Friends of Downtown Halifax @FriendsOfHFX]

London’s encampment management strategy isn’t perfect, but at least they have one! It’s high time for Halifax to have one too. https://t.co/ESaeznyoVa

[Friends of Downtown Halifax @FriendsOfHFX]

Firefighters douse blazes at two homeless encampments in HRM https://t.co/ivJp59vsuT

We need new designated, serviced encampment sites ASAP. The longer HRM takes to deal with this issue, the more danger they put HRM residents in. The wild fires in Tantallon last summer destroyed or damaged 200 properties and caused the evacuation of 16,000 residents. The fires caused $165 million in insured damages, and required $8.7 million in provincial assistance. People who lost everything are still suffering the financial and emotional toll of last year’s fire.

The smoke from the fires in Tantallon, and then Barrington Lake, also impacted tourism throughout the city, with trip cancellations causing 10s of thousand of dollars in losses to hospitality businesses in the downtown area.

The city is actively looking the other way, as a matter of policy, while encampments are being setup illegally in municipal and provincial lands. Since the city knows these encampments are a frequent source of fires, their decision to forgo bylaw enforcement is negligent by definition.

Sackville residents reported a growing encampment in the trails of Sackville Lakes (a provincial park). The city is simply noting this is a provincial park, so not their problem. In fact, the lack of an encampment management strategy and newly designated sites is what’s driving the tents into the woods. When the next wildfire starts, it wouldn’t matter that the park is provincial. The homes that will burn and the residents and businesses who will be impacted are all on municipal lands.

Please contact your municipal councillor today and ask for an encampment management plan NOW, not six months from now. Ask for new designated sites by next month, not after the summer/fire season has ended and the damage is done.

[Friends of Downtown Halifax @FriendsOfHFX]

Edmonton mayor names 16-member task force to tackle housing and homelessness. Group includes housing developers, social agencies, city councillor, U of A prof.

We need a similar task force in Halifax. Various groups have been calling for this for more than a year now.

https://t.co/GW6V6NILrT

[Friends of Downtown Halifax @FriendsOfHFX]

Parking in Downtown Halifax remains the number 1 barrier to potential downtown visitors.

Findings from a recent Narrative Research survey show that, as with previous years, parking remains the primary concern of the majority of potential visitors to downtown Halifax (see attached table). This is followed closely by traffic congestion, which is exacerbated by construction activities, particularly the Cogswell Interchange project.

https://t.co/ZDYrXmRnTy

Concerns about public transit are not a prominent barrier, ranking a distant fifth with only 18% of respondents.

Each year, various surveys are conducted by multiple downtown organizations. They consistently show the same result: parking is the top concern in downtown Halifax. Yet, every year, this feedback from actual residents of HRM is dismissed by city officials, who address this obvious and recurring pain by removing even more street parking and hiking up parking fees and fines.

The city justifies this dissonance, between new parking policies that make parking more difficult and expensive vs. the lived experience of downtown visitors, by pointing out under-utilized parking spaces in impractical parkades located a 10 to 20 minute walk (roundtrip) away from where the majority of visitors want to go during peak hours. Parking scarcity is deemed an “imaginary problem” and those who experience it are labelled as lazy drivers.

Parking far from destination and walking is considered a normal expectation from a visitor of downtown Halifax, yet the same logic does not apply to visitors of business parks. They are both the same HRM residents, motivated by the same preferences, family schedules, and various daily urgencies. No one asks or expects a visitor to Bayer’s Lake or Dartmouth Crossing to park 10 minutes away from Walmart’s door and walk to the store.

They also note that street parking usage is in decline, yet fail to see the link between this decline and recently approved increases to the cost of parking fees and fines, which are pushing more people away from downtown Halifax.

Furthermore, the continued attrition of street parking spaces leads to more parking pain, which leads to fewer people visiting downtown, which leads to more attrition. Like a snake eating its own tail, this ouroboros is bad for downtown Halifax.

The city can’t magically create hundreds of new street parking spots, but they can make it less costly to park and freeze further planned reductions to street parking in the downtown core.

The current penalty in downtown Halifax for an expired/unpaid parking meter is $45. The penalty for a meter violation in downtown Toronto is $30. Vancouver? $25.

Meanwhile, patrons of shops on Saint-Laurent in downtown Montreal pay $2.25 per hour in metered parking during peak times, while patrons of Spring Garden shops pay $3.75.

We call on the city of Halifax to heed the results of this survey, and the many surveys before it. Parking scarcity and cost is a real (not perceived) barrier to those who wish to visit downtown Halifax.