Provincial officials in Nova Scotia assert they keep the authority to demand that shelters receiving government financial backing expel specific individuals, but they declined to clarify if such a directive was issued to a New Glasgow facility last month. Lisa Deyoung, executive director of Northstar Shelter and Support Services, stated that she began receiving phone calls on Sept. 17 from an employee within the provincial Department of Opportunities and Social Development concerning a person who had recently arrived at the 20-bed facility.
Pressure From the Department of Opportunities and Social Development
According to Deyoung, the individual in question recently completed a jail sentence for what she characterized as relatively minor offenses.
“Eventually it came down to receiving a call, asking us to remove this individual immediately,” Deyoung said during an interview.
Opportunities and Social Development Minister Susan Corkum-Greek declined an interview regarding communications with the Northstar shelter concerning the man. In a written statement to CBC News, the department maintained it can’t comment on specific situations relating to people accessing shelters.
Fewer than 24 hours after the province stated it would terminate the shelter’s financial support within 90 days, Deyoung observed that both the demand to expel the man and Northstar’s decision to reject it had taken place. In a news release last month, Northstar stated it is not alleging there is a connection between the removal request and the funding decision.
Community Friction and Unanswered Questions
The funding decision follows a municipal decision in August, when the New Glasgow council voted to ask the province to close Northstar, the town’s only shelter. Town officials cited years of complaints on a number of issues including open drug use in the area.
While the department stated that the funding decision was not related to any one individual or incident, leadership at the charity maintains that questions remain for the province that remain unanswered. Deyoung pointed out that the department had not asked Northstar to remove someone from the shelter before.
“This is very uncommon. And when the request did come in via phone, I did ask for them to put that in email and they would not,” Deyoung said.
When CBC News interviewed the directors running three separate government-supported shelters, they reported that the province had never asked them to evict any individual from their properties.
Clashing Views on Shelter Authority
Dwayne Wright, board chair for Northstar, argued that the province doesn’t have grounds to tell shelters who they can and can’t serve. Operating as an independent charity separate from provincial ownership or management, Northstar nevertheless accepts financial assistance from the government.
Conversely, the provincial government maintains that it does have the right to request a person’s removal from a shelter, under certain circumstances. “There can be circumstances where restrictions are put in place or an individual is asked to leave because of serious safety or conduct concerns,” the department’s statement read. Officials added that when serious safety concerns arise, they work with service providers to ensure those concerns are addressed and appropriate action is taken.
Deyoung countered that the man in question had not contravened any of the shelter’s policies, and noted that the department has not provided any explanation for its request.
Despite learning that its funding will cease in December, Northstar continued to provide shelter to the man. Leadership states that the immediate focus remains on making arrangements for its clients and its staff once its funding runs out in December.
