'That to me is a protest': Regina police chief says city hall encampment exploits homelessness issue

The chief of Regina’s police service reiterated that he believes the encampment in front of city hall is exploiting the plight of Regina's homeless population.

“I want to make sure that we understand what I'm saying about this,” Regina Police Service’s Chief Evan Bray told reporters.

“Because since I did my first and original interview on this, people are construing my words to mean something different.”

Chief Bray identified three groups of people in his comments.

The first being those who are homeless, the second being those trying to help.

The third, Bray identified as those “exploiting” the current situation.

“My pointed comments that I made are about people that are trying, in my view, to exploit those that are homeless people, that are using this as a grandstand to stick it to government, to stick it to city hall,” he explained.

“There were people that organized the march down Victoria Avenue and wanted to plunk a homeless tent encampment in front of City Hall. That to me is a protest.”

“That to me is not about trying to do not necessarily what's best for the homeless people, that's about exploiting them and I'm going to stand by my comments on that,” Bray added.

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When asked how RPS will treat the encampment at city hall, Bray maintained that RPS is working to connect services with those who need them.

However, he said that factors, such as substance use disorder, complicates the process.

“Sometimes those services come with conditions and the people aren't wanting to follow those conditions,” he explained.

“I recognize even though you want supportive housing, it's not easy to say, ‘Okay, I won't drink or I won't use drugs,’ because they've got a substance use disorder that requires medical help.”

As for anyone else who refuses to leave the camp, Bray said that arrests are an option.

“Our goal is to find homes for people, get them into the care and the help that they need, he said. “And if there's protesters left that are refusing to leave, then one of many options is an arrest.”

'TRYING TO DO THE BEST WE CAN'

Mayor Sandra Masters said the constant pressure for the city to act on the homelessness issue is frustrating due to the constraints.

“Housing, health care, mental health services, addiction services, social services are not the city's responsibility, and we spend millions of dollars in terms of supporting community based organizations,” she explained.

“But fundamentally in terms of jurisdiction as well as the budgets for it, those exist at two other levels of government, who have all the rules and frankly, some of those rules handcuff us right now.”

Masters went on to say that providing housing without other supports does not work when dealing with people suffering from substance use disorders.

“I just had a call yesterday morning with a woman who had an addiction issue, who lived on her own and the wellness check discovered that parent's worst nightmare, she was deceased from an overdose.”

“It's not enough to put them in housing without the supports. We’re not the supports. I don't even think there's capacity, nor is there legislation in place that would mandate that support. That's the frustrating part.”

Regina Mayor Sandra Masters speaks to reporters in this file photo. (David Prisciak/CTV News)

She went on to say due to interventions not being mandated, addictions issues will persist and will inevitably lead to homelessness.

“Folks can wave off help, they can wave off medical help and so without intervention, we are going to stay in a cycle because the addiction has an unbelievable grip on folks,” Masters said.

“It's not even just frustrating. It's unbelievably disheartening. I talked to parents, I talked to other folks who have children or family members in the grip of addiction. There's no way to help.”

Masters maintained that the issue was not unique to Regina.

“No one has an answer to this, look across this country. Nobody has an answer to this," she said. "So without some sort of federal intervention, I think is where that law would lie, we're all just swimming in this trying to do the best we can, to keep people alive.”