Premier's office leaves questions unanswered in Darlene Necan case

CBC Thunder Bay journalist Jody Porter and I thought it was only appropriate to approach Ontario’s Premier Kathleen Wynne as 49 of her constituents signed a letter urging Wynne to do something about Darlene Necan's predicament.

Necan is an Ojibway woman who is attempting to solve her own homelessness by constructing her own cabin on land where her family used to live in northern Ontario.

Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources has charged her with breaches of the Public Lands Act that carry fines up to $10,000.

• Premier Kathleen Wynne urged to visit Darlene Necan
• Homeless woman charged for building her own home
• Reporter's notebook: Reg Sherren encounters homelessness and hunger

Jody Porter first took up Necan’s story and has been pursuing it for some time. She wrote to the premier’s office on Dec. 2.

(Note: The emails have been edited for length.)

From Jody Porter, sent Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2014, at 11:13 a.m., to Astravas, Zita (OPO).

Hi Zita,

Further to my voicemail message this morning, I'm looking for response from the Premier's office to a letter that was delivered on Nov. 18.”  “The group is asking for the Premier to turn her attention to the case of Darlene Necan.

Please let me know if/when/how the Premier intends to respond to the letter and the concerns about Darlene's situation. My deadline is 5 p.m. today.

Thanks, Jody

At 5:06 p.m., there was a response.

From Zita Astravas, sent Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2014, at 5:06 p.m.

Subject: RE: media request: letter to Premier re: Darlene Necan's house in Savant Lake

To: Jody Porter 

Jodi, you can attribute this to the Premier’s spokeswoman if that works: The ministry has been engaged in discussions with the individual for over four years to support her. This included active engagement when it came to issues of housing.

However, when it comes to housing on reserve this needs to be a much broader discussion. We need a strong federal partner that lives up to its responsibilities and works with Aboriginal communities and this is especially true when it comes to housing on reserve. Following a public complaint the ministry worked for over nine months to find an agreeable solution. This included the sale and transfer of the lands in question. We will continue to monitor the situation and actively look to find a solution.  

The ministry is currently reaching out to Ms. Necan,  through her representatives as we want to ensure that she has full access to our social services and social housing options.

 Thank you so much for your patience.

Z

So I decided that I would try and get a direct response from the premier to this situation. What follows are my attempts.

From: Reg Sherren, sent Dec. 4, 2014, to Zita Astravas.

Hi Zita,

My name is Reg Sherren, I am a journalist with The National on CBC Television. Dozens of people have contacted the Premier's Office asking her to intervene in this matter. I have read the various releases attributed to the ministry, but these requests were directly to Premier Wynne.

Is the Premier aware of these requests? What is the Premier's view of Darlene Necan's situation? If you could help me with answers to these specific questions I would appreciate it. Thanks for your time.

At 5:30 p.m, this arrived:

Hey Reg – here’s a statement you can attribute to the Premier’s spokeswoman:

"The ministry has been engaged in discussions with the individual for over four years to support her."

This was the same response sent to Jody Porter two days before. I try again:

Hi Zita,

Actually this is very similar to your previous statement and doesn't answer either one if my questions. They were; ( in reference to the dozens of people who have written the Premier asking her to intervene)

Is the Premier aware of these requests? What is the Premier's view of Darlene Necan's situation? Can I assume this means the Premier is not aware of these requests and does not want to comment on Darlene Necan's situation? I am not asking about the ministry, I am asking about the Premier.

A response would be appreciated.

Thanks

One last response from the premier's office:

The comment is from the Premier's office Reg, not the ministry. Our government is aware of the situation. ‎This is the comment from the Premier's office.

From Reg Sherren, sent Thursday, Dec. 4, 2014, 8:14 p.m.

Ok. Sorry Zita but when you said the ministry I assumed you meant the MNR. So the Premier is aware of the requests for her to intervene but won't comment on Darlene Necan's situation? I want to make sure I have this right. I am asking specifically about the Premier so I can publish the response.

Thanks. Sorry for the confusion.

Reg

There has been no further response from Premier Kathleen Wynne’s office.