An Alberta government spokesman denies the province is planning to tear down a tent city that provides shelter for 200 homeless people near downtown Edmonton. 

"At the moment, there are no definitive plans to shut down tent city," said Robert Storier, who is with Municipal Affairs and Housing.

The number of people living in Edmonton's tent city has risen, bringing gang and crime problems, say residents.
(CBC News)

"The province will continue to be working with our other partners — the City of Edmonton [and] Capital Health — to try to find a long-term solution to the situation down there," he said Wednesday.

The tent city sprung up on provincially owned land in June near the non-profit Bissell Centre in the city's downtown. Bissell Centre director Marilyn Fleger said she was told earlier this week that the province was planning to tear down the campsite at the end of this month.

Meanwhile, gangs and prostitution are entering in tent city as the population mushrooms due to rising rents and a low vacancy rate in Edmonton.
 
Judy Nadeau said tent city was an OK place to live when she set up her tent a month ago, but gangs have moved in.

"You can't sleep at night. People are getting beat up left and right," she said.

Police cracking down

Police now patrol the area during the day and a security company hired by the city patrols at night.

"We've made at least two arrests that I am aware of for stabbings that have occurred there as recently as the weekend," said Brian Nowlan of Edmonton police.

"We have information there was a mini-brothel being run out of one of the tents. We've seized weapons, drugs, high amounts of cash, and we've had to personally evict a number of known gangsters from tent city."

But residents say it's still not safe because police and security guards come and go.

"When they come, the young punks take off," said Nadeau.

Fleger said adding more police will solve the problems, but the solution is finding residents affordable homes.

"The homeless problem is of a sufficiently small magnitude compared to other communities like Vancouver and Toronto that we could actually come up with an innovative plan to help the homeless," she said. "But we need the leadership from municipal government, provincial government and the community to make that happen."