Mustard Seed No Longer Feeding Most of Unhoused, Blames MPC Decision to Deny Adding Shelter Beds

At the Feb 19 2025 Municipal Planning Commission (MPC) meeting, Mustard Seed CEO James Gardiner warned that the Jan 15 2025 decision (to not allow the Mustard Seed to add 20 beds to the Allowance Avenue location) would result in about 100 people going without food on a daily basis. The Owl has confirmed that the Mustard Seed only provides meals for the up to 35 people staying at their 8th St SE location. There are no meals provided on weekends.

I called and left a message with Dani Bolduc, Community Development Specialist with the Mustard Seed in Medicine Hat. I received a call back from the Communications Department. They said they post regular updates on their website, it has most of the information.

“Things are ongoing and changing, for now we are serving only the number of guests in our shelter, up to 30 guests that stay at our shelter every night in Medicine Hat. That's the amount of meals we are preparing.”

“We don't have the capacity to feed them, there is no way to feed them, we’re no longer allowed at Allowance, the only place to feed them is at the shelter.”

I asked her if they could give them any food, even if they eat outside.

Response “No that wouldn’t put us in a good light at all, that’s not what the community wants.” She also said “We’ve been redirecting them to other places in the neighbourhood.”

When asked “Where are the other places where they can get services?”, the reply was all of that is on our website.

This is on their website.

Changes to Food Services

• Following the Municipal Planning Commission meeting held on February 19, 2025, the decision was made to approve the operation of a ghost kitchen at 503A Allowance Avenue for a period of 90 days. This will allow us to continue ongoing meal services for guests staying at our 8th Street Shelter until we find a permanent solution.

• This also ensures continued food support to the shelter without increasing traffic to the 8th Street shelter. However, it will not make up for the 100+ meals that we served to those in need in addition to the shelter guests.

• Only staff and volunteers will be allowed at the Allowance Avenue location during the 90 day period. Guests will be redirected to other community support where possible.

After seeing that there were no places listed on the website where people not staying at the overnight shelter could get a meal, I called the 1 800 number. The only alternative given to me was the Root Cellar. (The Root Cellar does not provide meals. They provide food which often must be prepared in some way.) The young man on the phone said “we are doing everything we can in Medicine Hat to try to re-establish (inaudible) but you know unfortunately…”

So, according to the Mustard Seed, about 100 people /day are going hungry in our city.

The Salvation Army has been providing an evening meal for a long time. The Niisitapi Kookums have stepped up in the meantime to provide a lunch along with another group that has been providing Wednesday lunches for a few years to add to those meals but there is still a lack of meal offerings on weekends.

February 19 MPC Meeting

Mustard Seed CEO James Gardiner told everyone at the Feb 19 MPC (Municipal Planning Commission) meeting that there will be a sign for people to call 911 in case of emergency. 

At about the 14 minute mark in the above video Gardiner also said “Our view is that by giving people food vouchers that they then take into private  restaurants would be a breach of that privacy by identifying them as potentially unhoused in our FOIP requirements so that is deemed not to be an option.”

“As an operator of services for vulnerable people we are covered by the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy legislation.”

NB - it is more likely they are covered under the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA). The FOIP Act covers public bodies, the Mustard Seed is not a public body, they are a service organization.

PIPA says

Division 5
Disclosure of Personal Information

Limitations on disclosure

19(1)  An organization may disclose personal information only for purposes that are reasonable.

(2)  Where an organization discloses personal information, it may do so only to the extent that is reasonable for meeting the purposes for which the information is disclosed.

The FOIP Act says

Division 2
Use and Disclosure of Personal Information by Public Bodies

Use of personal information

39(1)  A public body may use personal information only

                          (a) for the purpose for which the information was collected or compiled or for a use consistent with that purpose,

                          (b) if the individual the information is about has identified the information and consented, in the prescribed manner, to the use, or

                          (c) for a purpose for which that information may be disclosed to that public body under section 40, 42 or 43.

It goes on to say

Disclosure of personal information

40(1)  A public body may disclose personal information only

…

   (l) for the purpose of determining or verifying an individual’s suitability or eligibility for a program or benefit,

Gardiner mentioned several times throughout the meeting that about 100 people a day would be going hungry because of the Jan 15 2025 decisions by the MPC to deny the application to add 20 overnight beds to the Allowance Avenue location. He went on to say that

“WIthout approval (of the ghost kitchen at the Allowance Avenue site), we cannot feed the people we are housing at that (8th St SE) site.”

Gardiner said that they are sometimes asked to deliver other food by Community Housing during emergencies (such as the cold snaps earlier this year). He said that they are not involved with feeding the 100 people that are not staying at the shelter. He went on to say that they are not directing them to other services “because we don’t know where they would go”. (Safelink has the other services posted on their Gardiner said numerous times that “That is the consequences of the Jan 15 decision, that they will be back in the community.”

On this last weekend of March, the unhoused of Medicine Hat
who are indeed back in the community will struggle to find a meal.

On the Mustard Seed website -

I assure you that if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Go from here to there,’ and it will go. There will be nothing that you can’t do.

– Matthew 17:20 (CEB)