According to provincial NDP leader Jim Dinn, housing has been the province’s most significant challenge this year.

Dinn says he and his party caucus have long been sounding the alarm on housing issues.

He remembers discovering people sleeping in tents in Pippy Park back in 2022.

However, he admits that over the past year, it has grown increasingly difficult to assist those facing problems with housing access.

He suggests building non-market housing, removing the tax from all forms of home heating, addressing the vacancies in social work and nursing and implementing a “balanced housing plan that expands non-market community-based housing.” @JimDinn https://t.co/b6TydmjDG8

— NL NDP Caucus (@NLNDPCaucus) December 21, 2023

Dinn says he now prefaces every response with, “I cannot promise you that we’re going to be able to do anything,” a stark contrast to the promises he could make when he was first elected.

The gravity of the situation weighs heavily on him and his constituency assistant, he notes, describing the burden as “overwhelming.”