Fredericton crowd grills ministers for hours over homeless housing location
CBC
An information session about a new Fredericton housing project for homeless quickly turned into the grilling of two ministers for nearly three hours over what many perceived as a lack of consultation.
The province announced last week that a location on Forest Hill Road was chosen for a transitional housing project.
The public was invited to an information session at a nearby elementary school Wednesday night where they could ask questions of various groups and officials involved.
But that changed when Green Party MLA David Coon, who represents the area, took charge of the packed room with a loud whistle, and asked Housing Minister David Hickey and Social Development Minister Cindy Miles to speak.
Suddenly given a forum, the crowd of over a hundred, packed into a hot school gymnasium, began questioning the purpose of the meeting if the decision had already been made.
"The location itself is not what’s being debated,” Hickey said, before being abruptly cut off with jeers from the room.
“The conversation we want to have tonight is how we’re going to make sure this is going to work for everyone,” he went on to say before being loudly heckled again.
One man asked Hickey why he was wasting their time. Another yelled out that the process was “anti-democratic.”
Many in the crowd were respectful, while about a dozen residents continuously shouted over and yelled at the ministers, at times not letting others speak.
The most common issue raised was the proximity of the site to the school where the information session was being held. They are roughly 300 metres apart.
“I don’t feel safe sending my son to this school, knowing your building is right there,” yelled one woman.
Several parents who pointed and jeered at Hickey clutched their children with their other hand.
Many people asked the ministers about drug needles being found on the playground, and Miles and Hickey said security could be hired to sweep the school property every day.
After questions from the audience, Hickey said the school district had not been consulted.
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