A community rally Saturday in Civic Square at Saskatoon City Hall saw dozens of people attend in support of people experiencing homelessness. Organizers say the rally is intended to show solidarity with unhoused people who have been fined or forced to move from public spaces. Organizers argue that the punitive measures criminalize homelessness and violate the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code. Organizer Fran Forsberg says the code protects people from discrimination in areas including housing and access to public services, adding that the code takes priority over other provincial laws. Those in attendance at Saturday’s event had the chance to add their names to a human rights complaint being organized by the group. “We are getting people to sign a human rights complaint that are unhoused. So, the more signatures I can gather, the better it is,” Forsberg said. Forsberg says decriminalizing discrimination based on housing status undermines the dignity and equality guaranteed to all people under Saskatchewan law. The rally organizers are calling for an immediate end to fines and forced displacement of unhoused people. They are also calling on the City of Saskatoon and provincial authorities to adopt supportive, rights-based approaches to encampments in public spaces. David Fineday, a Saskatoon-based unhoused person and homelessness advocate, told the crowd of about 75 people about his experience seeing encampments taken down, displacing those who have nowhere else to go. “A lot of times they shut those places down and people get displaced. I mean if they’re going to shut places down, why don’t they replace them somewhere. They’re the ones that are creating homelessness,” Fineday said. The number of unhoused people is still growing, according to Fineday, who encounters an increasing number of children, elderly and those who are disabled on the streets. Organizers of the event were hoping to have government officials attend but weren’t confident that would happen.
