The Housing Minister is responding to calls from PC Party Leader Tony Wakeham that he should be removed from his portfolio.
Minister Paul Pike came under fire after it was realized last week that he misspoke about the number of new housing builds in the province.
The situation took another turn on Wednesday after images from the NDP showed rodent feces, unfinished plywood walls, and other unsanitary conditions at a shelter that had been chosen to house people who had been living in tents outside Confederation Building.
The photo on the left shows a sharps disposal bin left under a counter. The photo on the right shows apparent rodent feces scattered on the ground. (Submitted by the NL NDP.
In response to Wakeham’s calls, Pike says he doesn’t want the fact that he misspoke to be his legacy.
He praises the work of the department and the people in it , and he hopes that “the Premier will allow [him] to continue to do the great work that the department does.”
Pike would also respond to the conditions at the emergency shelter and how the people came to be housed there.
He says the department “assumed” that the shelter was being used by people experiencing homelessness and that they were in good shape. When they discovered the reality of the situation, Pike says the people were moved immediately.
Premier Andrew Furey noted in the legislature that an inquiry into how those people were placed in that shelter is underway. Pike doubled down on that, saying that all shelters in the province are being reviewed by a consultant.
