N.B. opposition say premier’s comments on homeless encampment deaths lack empathy

FREDERICTON — New Brunswick opposition parties are accusing Premier Blaine Higgs of lacking compassion after he responded to the deaths of two people at a homeless encampment by invoking legislation that could force unhoused people into addiction treatment.

Liberal Leader Susan Holt said Wednesday that Higgs’ comments at the legislature failed to show empathy for the two people killed in a tent fire Monday at an encampment in Saint John. “But he did show that he’s really out of touch with what’s happening in New Brunswick communities and that he has no understanding of the reality on the ground,” she said in an interview.

When asked during question period Tuesday what his government will do to prevent future tent fires and fatalities, the premier offered his condolences to the families of the two victims and said that what’s needed is a solution that gets people off the street.

“The sad reality, Mr. Speaker, is that some people don’t want to come off the street. Some people just refuse to do that,” he said.

Later, Higgs told the legislature that his government will be bringing forward a “compassionate intervention act” this session, which he said will help get people into shelters when their lives are in danger.

In the fall, Public Safety Minister Kris Austin told the CBC that the government plans to table a bill that would give police the power to force people into drug rehabilitation in extreme cases. Higgs was not made available for an interview Wednesday.

Both Holt and Green Party Leader David Coon said they were concerned to hear the premier bring up the bill in the context of homelessness, adding that the legislation as described by Austin is potentially harmful.

“What he’s proposing is altogether unacceptable,” Coon said in an interview Wednesday. “We need housing and related services that meet people where they’re at in order to ensure they’re safely housed.”

Johanne McCullough, director of Street Team Saint John, said Wednesday she’d like to invite Higgs to accompany her when she’s out with her group providing food and other basic necessities to unhoused people in the city.

“I think he should ride along with us and to come and visit the people that we serve at the encampments, to serve alongside us and see what people are like and what they actually need,” she said.

McCullough said that while some unhoused people may struggle with addiction, no one benefits from being forcibly admitted to a treatment centre.

“It seems to me that there’s a real dichotomy here. It doesn’t jive that you say it’s compassionate, yet it’s forced and it’s against your will. It’s like they’re saying, ‘I know what’s best for you,'” she said in an interview.

“Plus, there’s not enough treatment centres for the people that want it, never mind the people that don’t want it.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 27, 2024.

— By Lyndsay Armstrong in Halifax.

The Canadian Press