Before a protest on their front lawn, Liberals promised a housing plan — many, many times
CBC
Sheltered, a CBC Investigates series, examines the housing crisis in Newfoundland and Labrador — telling the stories of the people living it, while scrutinizing the policies and politics behind it.
It was a solemn pledge made in Newfoundland and Labrador's throne speech, which lays out the government's goals and priorities for the coming legislative session.
"Our government understands that safe, stable and affordable housing is fundamental to the social and economic well-being of individuals, families and our communities," Lt.-Gov. Frank Fagan read to the House of Assembly from the prepared text of the speech in March 2017.
"We are committed to the development of a comprehensive provincial housing plan that addresses the diverse needs of our residents, paying particular attention to the housing needs and supports for the most vulnerable and those with distinct needs."
Now, more than six and a half years later, the province is gripped by a housing crisis that has resulted in some of those most vulnerable erecting a tent city across the street from the very legislative chamber where those words were spoken.
Liberal housing ministers have repeated that promise many times over the years — the plan was coming, always just down the road or just around the corner.
But it hasn't happened. The plan appears to have never been completed.
CBC News asked for an interview with the premier or minister responsible for housing about the status of the housing and homelessness plan, and timelines associated with its release.
Officials did not respond to those interview requests, and, in an emailed statement, did not directly address those questions.
Instead, the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation said that housing "will be a pillar of the currently in-development social well-being plan that is expected to be released in the coming weeks and months."
Those words — or words like them — have often been used before, to describe the very plan the government is now sidestepping questions about.
And housing advocates say a line can be drawn between that lack of long-term planning and the current crisis.
"If this government cared at all about poor people and people that were experiencing homelessness in Newfoundland and Labrador, they'd have a plan to fix it," said Dan Meades, provincial co-ordinator with the Transition House Association of Newfoundland and Labrador.
"You understand what government cares about because they implement plans and they do things. This government isn't without a focus. It just isn't the people of the province who need it the most. They're not focused on the vulnerable. They're not focused on the housing insecure. They're not focused on poor Newfoundlanders and Labradorians."