N.B. premier suggests new legislation to address homelessness concerns

The site formerly home to a tent encampment on Waterloo Street in Saint John, N.B., is no more.

The small parking lot which once housed around a dozen tents has been cleared away to make room for the shipping container shelters where 14 people now reside. The site is overseen by Fresh Start, a non-profit organization who works with the city’s homeless community.

It has been a difficult week for the homeless population in Saint John after a tent fire on Monday that claimed the lives of two unidentified individuals. Police say it could be weeks before their identities will be released due to the ongoing investigation.

During question period on Tuesday, Premier Blaine Higgs suggested a new law that he first brought up in his throne speech from this past fall called the Compassionate Intervention Act. The legislation would, in extreme cases, empower judges and hearing officers to order treatment for severe substance users with a compassionate approach.

“Some people just don’t want to come off the street,” claims the Premier. “Are we going to consider that as an acceptable lifestyle and condone it, or are we going to find a way to help them find a way back into homes and into a life worth living?”

There is no word on how the legislation would work, or when it could be passed into law.

Kristie Merzetti is homeless and says the idea of “forcing” people into rehab wouldn’t go over well and would only increase fear, but she admits it could be better than some options for those in a dire spot.

“Jails don’t rehabilitate people and rehabs do,” she says. “They teach skills, and jail puts fear in people while rehab puts hope in people.”

But in order for that to be successful, Merzetti says transitional housing would need to be included.

Julie Dingwell, executive director of Avenue B Harm Reduction Inc., says forced rehab would only further traumatize individuals needing help, and questions how it would work.

“Do police arrest people and then do we tie them down in bed and force treatment drugs into them or something?” questions Dingwell. “That just sounds like a terrible, terrible thing we would be doing.”

Dingwell says most people would be happy to get help for their addictions, but resources are limited. She says it is unfair for the premier to put the blame on the homeless population.

“What we really need to do is instead of investing in forced treatment is invest in better treatment, and invest in treatment people would choose to go to,” says Dingwell.

The topic was once again top of mind in question period Wednesday. Official Opposition leader Susan Holt says it is clear Higgs is out of touch with the struggles of those experiencing homelessness, as well as those working on the frontlines to help support them.

“His lack of empathy in comments like, ‘It’s better to save people from themselves,’ are deeply concerning, and worse still is his solution, lock them up,” Holt said. “This demonstrates his continued pattern of not listening to the people on the ground, to the experts and researchers who have data demonstrating that forced treatment fails.”

Social Development Minister Jill Green responded to Holt’s question, saying the government is working with service providers around the province each day, adding it was unprofessional of the opposition to suggest otherwise. 

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