HALIFAX — A candidate for Halifax mayor says the municipality’s approach to homeless encampments has encouraged unhoused people from across the country to move to the city to live in tents.

But housing advocates and a city councillor say that claim is untrue.

Andy Fillmore, former Liberal member of Parliament for Halifax, says police have told him the city is attracting homeless people from outside the province — a fact he attributes to the municipality providing outhouses and water at designated encampment sites.

He also claims there is a rise in out-of-province homeless people because the city has failed to promptly remove tents from encampments that are not sanctioned by the municipality.

However, housing advocates Nikki Greer and Steve Wilsack say the vast majority of homeless people they work with in the city are local.

And Waye Mason, a Halifax councillor who is also running for mayor, says Fillmore’s claim is baseless and that data collected by the city shows that 61 per cent of homeless people in the area have lived in Halifax for more than 10 years.

Mason says the majority of the remaining 39 per cent have been in the city between eight and five years, making Fillmore’s claim “probably untrue.”

Halifax Regional Police did not immediately respond to questions about Fillmore’s assertion on the city’s homeless.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 24, 2024.

The Canadian Press