Housing task force wants to move people out of tent encampment by Christmas, minister says

Newfoundland and Labrador's provincial task force to address homelessness met with residents of a St. John's tent encampment Thursday, with the goal of ending the encampment and providing people with a place to live by Christmas.

Transportation and Infrastructure Minister John Abbott, who is also the MHA for St. John's East-Quidi Vidi, said members of the task force have visited the encampment in Bannerman Park in previous weeks, but wanted to meet on Thursday to see what how the task force should operate and what the best steps to take would be.

"It's very obvious to me that we share really many of the same goals here. Which is how we can find both short, medium [and] long-term solutions," Abbott told reporters.

"What we want to see is how we can come up with individual solutions that meet the immediate needs, and that's what we're focused on right now."

Premier Andrew Furey announced the task force last week to address escalating problems with housing and homelessness, and in the wake of encampments at Bannerman Park and an earlier one near Confederation Building. The task force includes municipal and provincial representation alongside local community groups.

Abbott said work is going to need to ramp up quickly, setting a personal goal of having people out of the cold by Christmas.

"Christmas is going to be upon us. We don't want anybody sleeping in a tent on Christmas Eve," he said. "That's two weeks out. We got to move even faster if we can."

Abbott said one topic discussed during the meeting was the idea of adding a resident of the encampment to the task force, but said discussions about that would remain internal.

He said everything is on the table, including shelters, finding local hotel rooms, and more intensive case management for residents of the encampment — acknowledging that some programs and services may not be working as intended.

Doug Pawson, the executive director of End Homelessness St. John's, said initial discussions have been positive — adding they are the first of many.

"There's a willingness with shared goals of finding solutions for folks, and I think we need to continue talking about what those solutions are," he said.

Encampment resident Leo Beluse said a warm place to live would be "absolutely, positively wonderful" — but admits he has his doubts.

"I'll believe it when I see it," he told CBC News. "How long do you think it took to get our porta-potties?..[We need] a permanent shelter for homeless people in the winter."

Jim Dinn, the leader of the NDP and MHA for St. John's Centre, said having people out of the encampment by Christmas would be a great step.