A pair of retired Moncton men are working together to address chronic homelessness and public safety. Dale Hicks and John Wishart have released a report calling for action – Unhoused & Unacceptable: Turning Words into Action to Build a Greater Moncton Homelessness Strategy. Hicks is board president for Rising Tide Community Initiatives, an affordable housing agency, while Wishart is the former CEO of the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Moncton. Both have worked on previous committees and task forces to reduce homelessness in the area. Their report has come up with 26 actions, not recommendations, for government, not-for-profits and business leaders to address the ever-growing homelessness crisis in the city. Last month, there were 570 people experiencing chronic homeless in the city and 800 who were touched somehow by homelessness. “The number of people entering homelessness is much higher than those who are housed and that’s the thing we need to reverse,” said Wishart. Their report was gathered from information provided by 75 community leaders who met in the fall of 2024 and were asked what they thought Greater Moncton could look like by 2030. “My sense is that the community and the province is either reaching or has reached the point where they realize some concrete steps have to be taken,” said Wishart. “I think the provincial task force is recognition of that.” On Sept. 16, 2025, the provincial government launched a task force of minsters and deputy ministers to address homelessness in the province. “They’ve laid it out there. Forty per cent reduction in chronic homelessness in three years. They’re going to be judged on that come election time,” said Wishart. Two members of the provincial task force were present Monday morning including Housing Minister David Hickey. “Moncton is clearly the community that is the most impacted by homelessness in the province. They have the highest numbers,” said Hickey. The report had already been shared with the Ministerial Task Force on Homelessness and with Moncton City Council. “We’ve actually accomplished some of their recommendations already around establishing a task force, getting better alignment amongst both community and municipal partners as well as even our own provincial departments,” said Hickey. “And then the work towards our homelessness strategy and some of our commitments on transitional and supportive housing as well.” Hicks said there’s no question the situation in Moncton is getting worse and he was encouraged to hear about the provincial task force. “The municipalities have been crying for ages, ‘This is not our jurisdiction, where is the support from the province?’ So, when they announced five cabinet minister and a provincial task force, not one department but five, I’m thinking, if they can’t figure something out then we’ve got a real problem, because they should be taking the lead on this,” said Hicks. One of Hicks and Wishart’s actions is the get the provincial and municipal governments to collaborate to find a new location out of the downtown area for the Bridge to Home hub located in a former seniors centre on St. George Street. The area of the city has become a sort of ground zero for homelessness. Hickey said he’d like to see more permanent housing solutions. “I’d like to get into a point where we are no longer opening shelters,” said Hickey. Another of the actions suggested is to designate community safety officers as special constable peace officers who can be given authority for non-criminal code violations. Wishart and Hicks would like to see a secondary public safety force in the city and a downtown public safety hub. Attorney General and Justice Minister Rob McKee said he’s aware of the request. “There have been meetings with departmental staff, Public Safety, with the City of Moncton, trying to identify a specific mandate. What powers, police powers, under what legislation they might be authorized to act. Whether they’re holding weapons or not. What training they might have. So, there’s a number of factors that go into that and we’re working with the City of Moncton on those issues,” said McKee. Another action on the report is to increase funding for those working on the front lines of the homeless sector. Hicks and Wishart would like to see the province work on a top-up program to ensure staff are making at least a living age. Harvest House Executive Director Leon Baker said that’s something he’s been pushing for. “I do believe they should have it. To think our staff are working front lines at a poverty rate or below the poverty line, supporting people, I just think that’s where we need to go and we need to have that funding in place for our team,” said Baker. Timelines were given for all 26 actions, but Wishart admitted some may be optimistic. Both men are retired, but the social issues surrounding the community they live in keep them dedicated to trying to find solutions for what seems like a never-ending problem. “Maybe there’s some outside voices like John and mine that can try to bridge some of the conservations between the levels of government and the community and try to move some things forward,” said Hicks. Wishart was on a homeless task force committee when he was the CEO of the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Moncton. “I’ve always had a soft spot homelessness and those challenged in terms of social services and my work when I was at the chamber on that task force really opened my eyes to a lot of things,” said Wishart. A leadership council will be created to advance the report’s action requests and to provide coordination of efforts to improve public safety and to help the city’s most vulnerable people. For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
