Halifax Fishing Tent Housing Issues
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Words per Minute
171.49425
Summary
In Halifax, Nova Scotia, there is a new temporary solution to help protect people who are homeless from the elements. Ice fishing tents are meant to keep somebody from freezing in the winter months. But what happens when the heat isn t enough to keep people warm in the cold?
Transcript
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In Halifax, there is a new temporary solution to help protect people who are homeless from the
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elements, ice fishing huts. Kayla Hounsel explains. For the first time in his life, Michael Baker is
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living in a tent. It's small, but I guess it's home for now. And he just got an upgrade. This
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tent is meant to be used for ice fishing. His other one, meant for camping, was leveled in a windstorm.
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He's been living outside Halifax City Hall for more than a month. I was trying to get into a new
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place, but they keep asking for more money. Nova Scotia's rent inflation rate is the highest in
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Canada. Halifax's vacancy rate among the lowest. Temperature change night and day. Stephen Wilsack
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was shooting a Christmas movie down the street when he saw this. He couldn't look away. He was out
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shopping and noticed these sturdier ice fishing tents. These are designed to keep somebody from
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freezing. This is designed in order to make sure that everything's at least safe. He's hoping to
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avoid unsafe heating measures that could lead to this. No one was injured when this tent caught fire
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last weekend, but Wilsack warns there was propane nearby. This is a state of emergency in the problems
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of Nova Scotia. This is a state of emergency in Canada. He paid for some tents himself. Then others
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started showing up with more. This will save someone's land. The municipality has only approved
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this site for eight tents. You just can't say, get out of here. Halifax's mayor says the insulated tents
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are an improvement. But my goal is not just to make it easier for people to sleep outside. It's to get
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people inside. With his office overlooking the tent city, he points out the municipality's
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booming population and says there's just not enough housing. I'm just here delivering day at a time
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and I don't know if I'm going to be able to get out of here or not. Wilsack says he's getting calls
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from as far away as British Columbia from people wondering if residents of their communities might
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also be able to live in what's meant for a winter sport. Kayla Hounsel, CBC News, Halifax.