Tent City protest sets up at City Hall

A group of Prince Rupert residents tired of the lack of action on adequate housing for the homeless and other affordable housing issues in the community, have taken their protest to the doorstep of Prince Rupert City Hall, setting up tents on city property this afternoon.

The protest which began mid Wednesday afternoon, saw a few participants pitch a tent on the fountain side of City Hall. To this point,  four nylon style camping tents have taken their place along the side of Fulton Street.

Update: By 5 PM, five tents had been set up, with more participants arriving into the evening hours.

The first indication that today's set up was planned came through social media, with and advisory of today's action delivered through Facebook. Though the actual time of the set up of the tents did not take place until after 2 PM Wednesday.

Concerns over the lack of affordable housing in the community have been raised in the past by local politicians, most recently at the October 16th Council session.

At that time. Councillor Joy Thorkelson expressed concerns for those that are most vulnerable in the community.

It's a topic that Councillor Barry Cunningham has raised on a number of occasions over the last few years, that as the City of Prince Rupert continues to struggle to find some solutions to the growing housing issues in the community.

There is no indication how long the protest and camp will be kept in place at City Hall.

While the CBC's George Baker has reported that Mayor Brain helped to set up one of the tents, so far the city of Prince Rupert has not issued any official comment related to the tent placements through any of their social media or Internet portals.

The theme of the tents at City Hall has so far not made it to the commentary forums for the social media platforms of Mayor Brain or Councillor Mirau, the two main contributors to those social media portals at City Council.

Update: Late Wednesday afternoon, the Mayor posted the letter below to his Facebook page, outlining the steps that he plans to bring to City Council on Tuesday in relation to the housing situation in the city.    (click all images to expand)

For more notes related to Housing in the Northwest see our archive page here.