Harpauer apologizes for comments
Saskatchewan’s social services minister has apologized for comments she made in response to questions about the government walking away from a 48-unit affordable housing complex.
Reacting to criticism that government had nixed the 48-unit project, Donna Harpauer told the CBC “You’re assuming there’s these desperate homeless people.”
But that desperation is very much a reality, says Tyler Gray, a housing support co-ordinator with Carmichael Outreach.
“For our social services minster to say something like that really does show a lack of connection to the human reality of most of the people who come through our doors,” Gray said.
“There are homeless people, and they are desperate.”
In her apology, Harpauer said her words “should never have been said.”
“In no way was I trying to say there are no homeless people in Saskatchewan, or dismiss this very important issue,” she wrote in her statement.
“I was responding to a specific question about the 48-unit affordable housing issue, and what I meant to say is that all 48 families have a home now and our government will ensure they continue to have a home. Obviously, I did a poor job of communicating that answer.”
Harpauer also insisted the government’s house strategy “is working” and has “reduced the waiting list by 58-per-cent” — a statement about which Gray isn’t convinced.
He says wait-lists for affordable housing in Regina haven’t changed since 2009.
“When we talk to our affordable housing partners ... we’re talking about threeyear wait-lists on average, and some people waiting up to six years if they’re not considered a priority,” he said.
Gray doesn’t doubt the dollars being put into affordable housing, but said the problem is the lack of a “comprehensive strategy that doesn’t separate homeless and housing.”
Did Harpauer need to apologize?
“I really think she did,” Gray said.
“When your minster of social services makes a comment like that, to me, it just reflects that there’s such a disconnect with the broader reality,” he said.
“When I look at government programs, I see a lot of disconnect, a lot of hoop-jumping and a lot of processes that lack an understanding of the human experience that these people go through.”