'Out of touch': HRM councillor frustrated by N.S. minister's comments on tents
CBC
Nova Scotia's minister of community services is facing criticism for comments she made about an increase in the number of tents around Halifax and Dartmouth.
Karla MacFarlane's remarks that more tents are visible in parks is part of a "natural evolution" of summertime has led to a strong response.
"There's nothing natural about what's happening," said Sam Austin, the councillor for Dartmouth Centre. "You basically have to go back to the Halifax Explosion to find any kind of comparable number of people outdoors."
MacFarlane said on Thursday that people can put up tents in the summer rather than couch surf or stay in shelters because it is a time when they can survive outside.
"I think it's just a lot of individuals are looking for that outlet and freedom to be outside," she said.
However, the province takes the issue seriously, she added, and has made huge investments in outreach workers to help connect homeless people to resources.
Austin said the remarks do not reflect the nature of the crisis many in the region are feeling.
"The comments to me are woefully out of touch," he said. "Our designated encampments, they're all full. The shelters are full. Our designated encampment sites over on the Halifax side, they're full."
Opposition politicians have also raised questions about what MacFarlane had to say.
Latest numbers show around 940 people do not have a permanent place to live in the region, in spite of investments the province has made on programs and housing in the past two years.
MacFarlane said she is doing her best to make sure the government continues to make significant investments.
Allan DeYoung, who lives in a shelter at an encampment in Dartmouth, heard MacFarlane's analysis on the radio.
The 62-year-old has been living outside for three years after losing his apartment in part due to addiction and mental health issues.
"I just didn't like the way she put it, like it's a natural evolution or something and in the winter time we are going to go back to sleeping in igloos, just the way she put it," DeYoung said.
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