I’m at Victoria Park, speaking with people dismantling their tents. They each tell me the shelters are full, and they have no idea where they’ll go.
Each has a different story, have been living precariously for many months. Some are on disability. One was living with his father, but the landlord said they were violating rules about # of people per unit.
They note that Eric, the Street Navigator, just went on vacation to get married. He had helped them throughout, and the evictions were timed around his vacation
One man tells me he’ll set up camp in a trees spot in the south end, I won’t say where this is, but I know the spot. It is not safe, for a number of reasons
One man speaks to his difficulty in getting assistance. There are lots of hoops to jump through, but phone calls go unanswered, etc.
This man was working at a job for $16/hour before an injury led to him losing his job. He’s of the sort who doesn’t want to take government assistance, but has applied for it.
People living on the streets can get $380/month. “It’s something,” he says.
The tents are down here, but they’re now just hanging out.
One woman still has a tent up, but she left early this morning. Don’t know what’s going to happen to her tent and stuff in it.
Some of these folks live very precarious lives. One man tells me he had an apartment, was helping out other homeless folks, including a underage teenage couple.
One guy he was helping shot up his apartment, so he fled. He has problem filling out the assistance paperwork
There are 2 street navigators — Eric and Sean (sp?), who cover different areas of town. Eric, who covers this area, is on vacation to get married; Sean is the one meeting with city officials at noon, I'm told. Seems a bit after-the-fact.
I've long conversations about the marginal housing situations these folks have had for years. More often than not, they've had some sort of roof over their heads — shared apartments, couch surfing, relatives, etc. — but even those not ideal situations have dried up recently.
Part of the equation: a fear of living in some of the few rooming houses. A man was shot in the Morris St. rooming house. Inglis Manor is full of bugs. There's a fear of some of the other tenants. Like that.
I should add, the people I spoke with today are friendly, and perhaps even a bit too open about their precarious lives, which is why I haven't used names or taken photos.
I know of problematic people living in other parks, and that's something of a chicken/egg question about homelessness and mental health issues. But the people I spoke with today were all of good spirit, considering, and sober, not a threat to anyone.
I do worry about people sleeping rough. I worry about them, their health, and public health generally. It's obviously not ideal.
But the problem, as I see it, is the lack of first tier housing, a safe place to rest their heads under a roof, with a lock, and with a toilet and shower nearby.
We are a rich country. We have the means to provide for this part of our society.

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More from @Tim_Bousquet

14 Sep
73 is a big number. I too am worried! But, I'm gonna speak a tiny bit out of turn here...
First, from my understanding, about half of that is an inter-connected group of unvaccinated people. If the rumours are correct, that's of almost no concern to the rest of us (I'll leave it at that), but obviously, we should care about those who have covid, regardless.
The other half is basically 10 a day or so, and about half of those are travel-related. Again: it's not good that people are sick, but this is a continuation of the trend of the last week or so.
Read 8 tweets
13 Sep
73 new cases of COVID-19 over 3 days announced in Nova Scotia today (Monday, Sept. 13) /thread
Of the new cases, 36 are in the Northern Zone, 31 are in the Central Zone, 4 are in the Eastern Zone, and 2 are in the Western Zone. Details downthread.
There are now 125 known active cases in the province. 1 person is in hospital with the disease, but not in ICU.
Read 27 tweets
18 Aug
9 new cases of COVID-19 announced in Nova Scotia today (Wednesday, August 18) /thread
All 9 of the new cases are in Nova Scotia Health's Central Zone. Details when I get them.
2,974 doses of vaccine were administered yesterday.
Read 14 tweets
18 Aug
Dr. Strang, white courtesy phone please.
Strang has repeatedly and consistently been against what he calls "coercive" strategies for vaccination, saying they may be counterproductive. (Argue with that all you want, I'm just stating his stance.) By coming out for a "Scotia Pass," Rankin politicized the issue. MORE
And Strang then when silent, ending all public briefings, so reporters were unable to ask him about Rankin's proposal. The office of Chief Medical Officer of Health was therefore politicized. That's not entirely Strang's fault, but it is a fact. MORE
Read 4 tweets
17 Aug
1 new case of COVID-19 announced in Nova Scotia today (Tuesday, August 17) /thread
The new case is in Nova Scotia Health's Central Zone and is related to travel.
There are now 22 known active cases in the province. 1 person is in hospital with the disease, and that person is in ICU. There are additionally 3 people considered recovered, which means they are no longer considered contagious, not necessarily that they're not still sick.
Read 10 tweets
16 Aug
9 new cases of COVID-19 over 3 days announced in Nova Scotia today (Monday, August 16) /thread
5 of the cases are in Nova Scotia Health's Central Zone — 3 are travel related, 1 is a close contact of a previously reported case, and 1 is under investigation. 2 cases are in the Eastern Zone; both are travel related.
2 cases are in the Northern Zone; both are travel related.
In total over 4 days (Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday), 6,122 doses of vaccine were administered. Of those, 4,648 were second doses.
Read 12 tweets

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