After two weeks, minister hasn't visited tent city outside Newfoundland legislature

Davy Short stands in front of the remnants of the kitchen tent at a homeless encampment across from the Newfoundland and Labrador legislature building, in St. John's, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. (Source: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sarah Smellie)

A homeless woman living in a tent city across from Newfoundland and Labrador's legislature says it's "insulting" that the province's housing minister hasn't made his way over to the site to speak with residents.

The encampment has been set up for more than two weeks, but Paul Pike, the Liberal minister of children, seniors and social development, has not yet visited the site, an official from the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation confirmed Wednesday.

Melanie Liebrecht challenged the minister to spend a night with its residents.

"He's the housing minister ... his job is to help people like (us). How do you sit there and look out your window and know that's you're job?" Liebrecht said in an interview Thursday, gesturing to the sprawling government building in front her, across a busy, four-lane road. "Would he let his family sleep out on the front lawn?"

The provincial legislature building is just outside the downtown core of St. John's, N.L., on a hill overlooking the city. The encampment is concentrated in a large field across from the government building. More than 30 people were living in about two dozen tents there last week. But on Monday, a rainstorm destroyed a number of the tents, which police removed the following day.

About 14 tents remained on Thursday afternoon.

Provincial NDP Leader Jim Dinn has been to the site several times, and residents know him by name. The Progressive Conservative caucus visited the site on Sunday, a day after the party's new leader, Tony Wakeham, was elected.

Premier Andrew Furey has also not been to the encampment, a spokesperson for his office said Thursday. However, John Hogan, the Liberal minister of justice and public safety, has visited the site.

Though the housing minister has not made an appearance at the homeless encampment, the housing corporation noted he gave a speech on the front steps of the legislature during a rally against homelessness on Monday.

"The (minister) has not visited the encampment as actions have focused on appropriately deploying the front-line experts to support individuals sheltering in the area," Jenny Bowring said in an email. "As a result, some individuals have secured housing and accepted placement in shelters to receive the necessary supports to secure more permanent housing."

Bowring said everyone at the encampment has been offered "staffed shelter placements, with access to supports and services, including case management and housing search services."

Liebrecht said she doesn't want a shelter bed. Newfoundland and Labrador uses both non-profit shelters and shelters run by private landlords, and Liebrecht said many are unsafe, especially for women, and that she feels safer in a tent.

What she really wants is a home for her and her partner, who lives at the encampment with her.

Liebrecht said her daughter died 14 years ago, and she coped by using drugs. She's been sober for more than a year, she said. If Pike does come to the encampment, she said she'd ask him how someone like her, who worked hard to turn her life around, could end up homeless.

"How is it that when I was doing drugs, I had my roof over my head, I had food in my fridge. I had clothes, a safe place?" she said. "People would say to me, 'Well, if you would clean up and you would be sober, then there'd be more resources available to you.' So I do exactly what I'm told ... and I have nothing."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2023.