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 — a claim housing advocates and city councillors say is untrue.
Andy Fillmore, who was a Liberal member of Parliament for Halifax for nine years, said police have told him the city is attracting homeless people from outside the province — a fact he attributes to the municipality providing support like outhouses and water at city-designated encampment sites.
In an interview, the mayoral candidate said that after an August 2021 protest over encampment evictions turned violent, Halifax council “stopped enforcing rules about removing tents from undesignated sites, they increased the support.”
“Those are signals that were broadcast to other jurisdictions and have the effect of bringing people to Halifax,” Fillmore said.
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The former MP says that Halifax police, volunteers helping at …