WINNIPEG -- A homeless encampment near the Disraeli Freeway is now expected to be dismantled Wednesday morning, though one resident at the camp says he doesn't know where everyone will go.
The city has said it has worked with community stakeholders to see how best to deal with the situation, but said the camp will be removed on Wednesday.
This comes after the Manitoba Metis Federation threatened to take legal action against the city saying it witnessed illegal drug use and sales, indecent exposure, and loitering.
A letter to the city from the MMF went on to say its parking lot and fence had been urinated and defecated on and that staff had been threatened and harassed.
READ MORE: City to address safety concerns surrounding homeless camp by Disraeli Freeway
Robert Russell, a resident at the camp, said they have asked the city for portable toilets and garbage bins to keep the area clean, but said they were turned down.
"It's not that people want to make a mess, but they have no choices of where to put the garbage," he said.
Russell said for many people living at the camp, it will be difficult to find a new place to live. He said low-income and affordable housing in the city have hygiene issues, adding he has seen some that are infested with bed bugs and mice.
"I wouldn't live there, I wouldn't want my mother to live there, I wouldn't want anyone in my family or any of my friends to live in those places," he said. "Why should anybody have to live in those places?"
He said he believes the residents of the camp and the city can come to an agreement.
"Cooler heads have to prevail here. We have to come to a solution that is going to be a joint venture for everybody," he said.
"I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, but I will say this – people are going to have to move and they will move where they will."
