Rideau-Vanier candidates united in opposition to shelter
The Salvation Army’s controversial Vanier shelter project has resurfaced as a hot-button municipal election issue, with candidates hoping to represent the area coming out in opposition.
Many residents and local business owners oppose the 350-bed shelter on Montreal Road, saying the project will diminish property values and increase crime in the area.
At a fundraising barbecue and garage sale held Sunday by SOS Vanier, a group organizing the campaign against the shelter, three candidates for Rideau-Vanier and one local candidate running for mayor voiced their own concerns.
Money raised at the event will go toward the group’s challenge of city council’s approval of the project before the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal, formerly known as the Ontario Municipal Board.
Coun. Mathieu Fleury, the incumbent and one of those opposed to the project, said the event raised $13,800, bringing the total raised to more than $165,000. SOS Vanier is hoping to raise $200,000.
“I do not agree with the direction taken by the city,” he told Radio-Canada in French. “We must make sure to invest so that there are fewer families in these shelters.”
But Thierry Harris, another candidate for Rideau-Vanier, blamed Fleury for failing to consult the communitiy early in the process.
“What we have to do is work together with the community and preserve land to build mixed housing,” Harris told Radio-Canada.
Candidate Matt Lowe said homeless people need help, but believes the city took the wrong approach.
“These people need help, they need houses. Instead of a 350-bed centre in one place, a few 90-bed centres in many places other than Vanier would be more successful,” Lowe said.
A fourth candidate for Rideau-Vanier, Salar Changiz, did not attend the event.
“This error will be difficult to reverse,” said SOS Vanier coordinator Bruce McConville, who is challenging Mayor Jim Watson for the city’s top job.
“Ottawa must adopt a housing first approach and become a world leader. This is my platform. We have the resources and the capacity. It’s time to fix this problem,” he said.
“By building this shelter it does nothing to reduce homelessness, and it just moves the problem and makes it bigger.”
Many residents also took part in the event Sunday.
“The Vanier neighborhood should be beautified and not become a ghetto,” said Claudie Paris. “No neighborhood deserves a 350-bed shelter…. Vanier already has its share.”
Unsold objects from Sunday’s fundraising event will be donated to charities, McConville said.
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