On eve of Thanksgiving weekend, protesters living in tents want solutions from N.L. government
Protest enters 5th day with cold, wet weather settling in
With much of Newfoundland and Labrador looking ahead to the Thanksgiving long weekend, some protesters who are sleeping in tents just outside the province's legislature are asking what they have to be thankful for.
Penny Mutrey joined a growing group of people without permanent housing in a protest this week. They've set up their own tent commune in a call on government to address the lack of safe and affordable housing.
"Where else are we supposed to go?" Mutrey told CBC News.
"What should I be thankful for at Thanksgiving?… These people that have come together in the little team and do what we've decided to do, to show the politicians that whatever they've done to mess this up it's their responsibility. It's on them, not us."
Mutrey said she has been in and out of homelessness for about a decade. She's a recovering addict who's living with a senior couple but that window is closing, she said, because the couple has decided to downgrade and move into a retirement home.
That means Mutrey will be without a space to live in once again, and time is running out.
"I'm right back into the same street dilemma where I've been for the last umpteen months," she said.
"Who's bringing the hot turkey this Thanksgiving? Where are we all going to sit down and eat together?"
Housing officers have been visiting the encampment daily since it popped up Monday evening.
Mutrey said Newfoundland and Labrador Housing has been great to the group and helped some find shelter space.
But that's not what the end goal is, Mutrey said. The mixed group of protesters is made up of people who are capable of working and students who are going to class, she said.
"How many more months do we have to stay in shelters or in tents? How many times are they going to bounce us around? So a majority of us turned down the shelter beds," she said.
"We're not here for shelters today. We're here for permanent housing."
Help from public continues
People have been dropping off items to the protesters throughout the week.
Clothing, blankets, tents, tarps, coffee and hot meals have been a welcome sight, Mutrey said.
Politicians have also been checking in.
NDP Leader Jim Dinn has made multiple visits, including Monday night, when the first tents went up, and again on Friday.
Dinn said he was supposed to meet with Social Development Minister Paul Pike on Friday but was told Pike is travelling in his district of Burin-Grand Bank without cell reception.
"We've been hearing that people are being moved out of shelters into congregate living. We're not sure if it's to make way for the people who are living in tents, but that's something we need to get confirmed," said Dinn.
"If it is the case, we would have a problem, I would have a problem with moving people around like chess pieces on a board."
Dinn said he was hoping a solution to the tent protest would have been found by now. There needs to be a longer conversation about how to solve the problem as a whole, he said.
"I was hoping to find out what are the plans right now, what has been offered to the people who are living in the tents and what is the time frame," he said.
"The tenters themselves have asked us to ask the minister. They want to have a reasonable time frame of when they can expect a solution to housing."
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