‘It’s really heartbreaking’: AMC calls for input amid record numbers of unhoused individuals

Displacement and disconnection — that’s the story the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) says emerges from the latest street census. Stats reported by the organization show a record number of unhoused Winnipeggers, and 78 per cent of them are Indigenous.

“It’s really heartbreaking,” said Heidi Cook, acting Grand Chief of the AMC. “Beyond just the numbers, each of those numbers is a person, each of those person has a family, a story.

“I think it speaks to generations of neglect to social supports for First Nations and the effects of generational trauma not being addressed, and just underfunding core infrastructure in our communities, it’s starting to snowball into larger crises.”

She says homelessness in Winnipeg is tied to the lack of housing in First Nation communities, where people have nowhere to go and thus go to Winnipeg.

“There’s just simply not enough homes. For many, many years, chiefs have been saying the same thing over: that we lack adequate housing,” said Cook.

Unhoused folks CityNews spoke to at an Osborne area encampment said they have a long list of changes they’d like to see, including an end to the displacement of encampments.

They also said they would move into the province’s new no-cost housing complexes, but have not yet been asked.

AMC wants social housing led by First Nations.

“The solutions need to be co-developed with First Nations and having our leadership involved in addressing these problems. We don’t want the government to swoop in and tell us what we need because we know what we need and we’ve been saying it for many years. So we just need true partnership supported by resources to really help people have a home,” said Cook.

In a statement to CityNews, a ministerial spokesperson said, “The province welcomes discussions with the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) and the federal government to discuss moving our ‘Your Way Home’ strategy forward.”