Winnipeg is hoping for change after calling homeless encampments a “national human rights crisis.”

Housing advocates in Winnipeg hope a new report calling for a national plan to house the homeless will lead to much-needed change.

Federal housing attorney Marie-José Hule released a report Tuesday calling for six actions to address the nation's homelessness crisis, in which she called the encampments a “national human rights crisis.”

“I couldn't agree with the lawyer,” said Marion Willis, who works to end homelessness in Winnipeg at St. Executive Director of the nonprofit Boniface Street Links.

“Obviously, the federal government is busy, and it would do well to develop a national strategy to end homelessness in this country.”

The report comes at a time when the number of people in Canada who are turning to shelters for shelter is increasing because of a lack of affordable housing and support, Hole said in the report.

It points to Statistics Canada data for 2022 that shows 20 to 25 per cent of homeless people in Canada will live in camps and calls on the federal government to come up with a national action plan by August 31 of this year.

The report also calls on governments to end forced evictions from camps and ensure that people living in camps have access to clean water, sanitation, food, health care and other basic needs.

Willis said the national plan must be “inclusive” and address the factors that lead to homelessness.

LISTENING | Winnipeg housing advocates respond to new report on homeless encampment:

“Right now, where mental health and addiction are prevalent, where we have very high rates of violence in this country … all of these issues are intertwined,” he said in an interview with the CBC. Information radio Tuesday.

“We have too many people barely surviving.”

The report also said governments should fund or build permanent housing and address “structural barriers that make existing emergency shelters unavailable or inadequate for all those who choose to use them.”

Attorney Al Wiebe, who has experienced homelessness himself, said he feels optimistic after the report's release.

“It's very important … we understand that they have the same human rights as everyone else,” he said Information radio hosted by Marcy Marcus.

According to Wiebe, people living in the camps face many obstacles, including forced evictions and access to safe shelters.

“People are in camps … because of the fear of shelters, and right now we don't have enough shelters for people to go to,” Wiebe said.

“I've been to a few shelters and every time we go in, there's an issue of violence. … People get disorderly.”

“Another Report”

University of Winnipeg urban and interurban studies professor Shauna MacKinnon says the report's recommendations are welcome but lead to “a level of frustration.”

“This is another report saying what many, many, many reports are saying,” he told CBC News.

“To address the type of housing we need most … we need to have housing outside the market that supports people in need.”

According to him, there is not enough political will among governments to build housing for the most vulnerable groups. Instead, MacKinnon said governments would support voters by focusing on affordable housing for middle-income earners.

“People mostly talk about affordable housing … people think about it in terms of their experience,” he said.

To change that, MacKinnon said people need to get their elected officials to invest in the issue.

“If there is a protest in the community, what will happen to this change,” he said.

“We've seen so many people living in this situation that we know why it's happening. We know what we need, but it's not happening.”

While Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham said he had not yet had a chance to read the report Tuesday morning, he said building more housing has always been his priority.

“We need to build more housing and we need more housing to get individuals off the streets,” he said.

“The solution to encampments is housing with fence posts.”

In response to the report's call to end forced encampment evictions, Gillingham said the city does not typically remove encampments, but has done so in the past due to concerns about the safety of the people living in them.

“Whether it's the police or our fire paramedics … they've been working with people living in camps,” Gillingham said.

“They always try to work not only with the people who live in the camps, but with the frontline service agencies … they come at it with a very respectful approach.”