Residents, supporters protest impending closure of St. John’s transitional housing facility

On Wednesday about 100 people gathered on Confederation Hill to protest the government’s impending closure of the Horizons at 106 transitional housing facility in St. John’s.

Before the third day of the House of Assembly’s fall sitting got underway, protestors sent a message that the facility, which opened in 2024 under controversial circumstances, is helping unhoused people get off the streets and into a safe and supportive living environment.

As the protest was about to begin, Housing Minister Chris Tibbs emerged from Confederation Building to speak with those outside. “ I want to hear your biggest concerns because, listen b’ys, it’s been a hard road. I know this,” Tibbs said before being interrupted by protest organiser and celebrated Newfoundland actor Mary Walsh.

“But minister, if you wanted to hear the concerns of the people at Horizon 106, wouldn’t you have gone over, and wouldn’t the people from the government have gone over, and spoken to them and asked them what their needs were?” Walsh asked.

“They did. We’ve had people there all week,” Tibbs responded. “This week?” Walsh answered. “But, sure, you threw them out before this week. I mean it’s been there for three years. This week is too little, too late, minister. That’s all I have to say. Carry on.”

Tibbs disappointed the crowd, saying his government still plans to close the facility. But the Grand Falls-Windsor–Buchans MHA committed to finding Horizons’ estimated 45 remaining residents somewhere else to live before the facility’s lease expires at the end of December.

Following the confrontation with Walsh, Tibbs spoke with a Horizons resident and others, who shared their concerns with the minister.

“I’m confident the supports are there,” Tibbs told protestors and reporters of the new arrangements being made.

The former hotel was converted to a transitional housing facility in 2024 and opened under then Liberal Premier Andrew Furey, whose government dismantled a tent encampment near Bannerman Park, angering housing advocates and displacing unhoused people in St. John’s.

After Progressive Conservative Premier Tony Wakeham won last fall’s provincial election, his government announced Horizons at 106 would close, citing high costs and issues with Liberal contracts.

Horizons resident cites issues with contract awarded to Bensaid Services

Graciana Smith, a resident of Horizons at 106 who attended the protest, went public last week with concerns from her and other residents, saying she and more than 40 others still don’t know when and where they will go next.

“Bensaid Services is our biggest concern,” Smith told Tibbs. “Because you obviously know what the shelter system is like.”

Last Friday, two days after Smith shared her concerns with local media, the government announced Horizons’ remaining residents will be moved into other housing arrangements in St. John’s with varying levels of support depending on their needs.

Stella’s Circle was awarded a three-year, $1.3-million per year contract, to provide “moderate case management for 25 people,” with at least five in-home support visits every week.

Bensaid Services was awarded a $2.2-million per year contract for the same time frame, for what is being referred to as an “intensive case management model,” offering a 24/7 staffed response for 20 people with more complex needs.

The government said with an average annual cost of approximately $3.5 million, the two new contracts cost far below the $14.5 million spent operating Horizons at 106 in 2025-26.

Responding to Smith’s concern, Tibbs said Bensaid Services is not a shelter.

“I know it’s not a shelter,” Smith said. “We were made promises that it was better, but […] if the way [they] run [their] shelters is any indication of how [they] run the program for the people that need the 24-hour care, it’s going to be inadequate.”

“I respect your opinion,” Tibbs retorted. “But at the end of the day […] I truly believe that the services are going to be in place, and I’m going to personally oversee it myself.

“Ashley Ben Said serves some of the most vulnerable people in our province who have nowhere else to go,” the minister continued, addressing Smith’s specific concerns about Bensaid Services, which owns and operates several non-profit and for-profit shelters in St. John’s. “Nothing is perfect,” he said, adding Horizons at 106 “wasn’t perfect either.”

Smith said residents she’s spoken with are concerned about going back into the services offered by Bensaid. “I have personally talked to the residents and watched them exit survival mode, put their lives back together after coming from hurt places, and now to see the fear and sadness in their eyes to think all their progress is going to go backwards,” she told Tibbs.

“We can pivot as we go, if we need to do something different,” the minister responded.

Longtime social justice advocate worried about plan

Decades-long social support advocate Jocelyn Greene spoke at the rally, expressing concern that some of the individuals being moved, who do better in a single-occupant room situation, could be placed in rooms with others.

Greene, a former social worker who helped transform Stella’s Circle into one of the largest non-profits that has helped thousands of people across Newfoundland and Labrador, was awarded an honorary doctorate’s degree by Memorial University in 2014 for her social justice work. A year later, she was inducted into the Order of Canada for her work.

“In my opinion, take the private-for-profit out of it,” she said to a cheering crowd. “Putting people who are most vulnerable, with complex mental health needs, two to a bedroom, like a personal care home model, is not going to work,” she continued, explaining her stance is based on 27 years of experience, “working with people who want to do better.”

“You can keep Horizons open. I think we have enough people in tents and on the go to have Horizons full tilt and still use the private sector,” Greene said.

“My request to you, Minister Tibbs, and to your government, is I believe you want to do the right thing. Please do not try to push these 20 people into shared-bedroom units. I am telling you right now, it is not a good plan.”

Greene then suggested the government use some of the province’s oil revenues to fund Horizons at 106. The day before the protest, Finance Minister Craig Pardy announced the province has received more than $600-million in windfalls from oil revenues so far this year. “Can some of our most vulnerable benefit from that?” Greene asked.

The advocate said she’s never been one to “bash government,” and that she has preferred to “infiltrate and conquer.” At the end of the rally she thanked Tibbs for his work and offered her assistance and experience, if requested. Tibbs said he appreciated the offer.

Reverend Bill Strong of St. Peter’s Anglican Parish in Conception Bay South also attended the protest. He said church members supported the Tent City for Change community in 2024 and that he’s been following the saga that has spilled over to Horizons at 106.

“Cost is only one factor – the success of these things is what matters,” Strong said. “It comes back to the fundamental issue of how we look after people who are in need of shelter and support.”

The reverend said there are likely people living in the woods around CBS, and that there “has to be a better way” to support them. “We have to make a more conscious effort to look out to those who are in need and look past the immediate cost to the long-term goal.”

“I have a house and I’m comfortable. I want everybody to be comfortable,” said resident Sheila Hallett. “I think the solution is more affordable housing and I think the solution is also a wrap-around support system for people who need it. I don’t think the solution is putting people out on the streets just before Christmas, or having people live in tents or in crowded situations that are unsafe. We need a better solution,” she said.

“I want politicians to know that homeless people have a right to shelter,” said Julia Cass, another resident who attended Wednesday’s protest. “I’m just someone who believes that everybody needs to have somewhere to stay, and I think it’s f—ked up to try and take Horizons away.”

Don’t walk away from a model that works: advocate

Horizons at 106 is run by End Homelessness St. John’s (EHSJ), which reports on its website that 542 people in St. John’s experienced homelessness in September, almost half of whom experienced chronic homelessness.

Speaking to the crowd on Confederation Hill Wednesday, EHSJ Director Doug Pawson said, “at a time when homelessness is at an all-time high in our community, we’re making decisions to remove solutions from our community. We’re removing integrated health and housing supports and services, and walking back from promises that have been made to the residents – that we made as an organization, as a community – to support our most vulnerable folks, prioritizing those individuals who had long histories of homelessness, who had languished in private shelters for years—and we’ve given them hope, and we’re walking away from that.”

Pawson acknowledged Horizons was intended as a short-term solution – the previous Liberal government announced it after evicting residents of the Tent City for Change encampment in early 2024 – but that he expected it to remain in service until a longer-term solution was developed.

What might a long-term solution look like? “Something that integrates housing and health, something that transforms our shelter system to give people hope rather than despair,” Pawson continued. “And we’re walking away from that. We’re not doing the right thing by the most vulnerable people in our community, and that’s really sad.

“We’re seeing far more increases of people sleeping in tents around town than we’ve ever seen before, and nothing in these decisions offer any semblance of hope for the 370-odd people who are looking for supportive housing – just like Horizons.”

Pawson said the government should be investing more in supportive housing solutions. “I’m really sad that we’re walking away from a model that other communities around the country, in Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick—they’re investing in supported housing solutions,” he said. “They’re investing in integrating health services and housing services. They’re using our models from our community that we were leading with, and we’re walking away from that. And where are we walking to? More private options, more private operators with less accountability, with less opportunity to work with our community partners, to really work towards solutions.

“I hope Premier Wakeham and I hope Minister Tibbs are true to their words that they want to see success. But you cannot see success if you’re not working together with the people who are involved, with the residents whose lives are affected the most,” Pawson continued, calling on Wakeham and Tibbs “to work with us and our community partners who have the experience and who want to see non-profit solutions to these real desperate challenges that people are facing.”

Walsh then invited Tibbs, who was still in the crowd, to the microphone. The minister accepted the surprise invite but didn’t mince words. “I am not going to come up here with any preconception that we are not closing 106, because we are,” he said to ‘boos’ and shouts of “shame”.

“I get it. I’m not going to stand here and try to fib to you, or lie to you,” he continued. “I want to talk to the residents to see exactly what their needs are moving forward.”“It’s a little late, minister,” Walsh could be heard saying in the background.

Tibbs committed to “tweaking” his government’s housing transition and support models. “I might be a politician, but that doesn’t define me. I’m a human being with a big heart and I truly know that many of you have been down a very, very hard road,” he said.

Walsh didn’t shake the minister’s hand as he left the microphone, instead saying, “You’re not giving much hope there, minister.”

Graciana Smith also addressed the crowd, this time to read a new open letter she prepared. She invited Tibbs and others in government to visit Horizons at 106 and hear directly from residents on their ideas about how to move forward, rather than relocate them.

“But that requires collaboration, transparency and willingness to reconsider a plan the residents believe will set them back,” Smith said. “We need a solution that protects the progress each resident has made in their lives, at their times at Horizons, rather than undoing it.

“We also want to make one thing absolutely clear: we will not be silenced or ignored or passed from program to program as though we are a problem to be managed, rather than people deserving stability,” she added to cheers from the crowd.

PCs reject NDP request for all-party committee

Inside the legislature Wednesday, Premier Tony Wakeham said that his party has “tackled the housing challenge head-on” in the PC’s first year of governing. 

But when NDP leader Jim Dinn asked the PCs how many of the promised 10,000 new homes over five years they have built, Tibbs called it a “lofty commitment, but we need to start somewhere.”

Dinn then asked the PCs if they would strike an all-party committee “to develop and implement solutions to the housing and homelessness crisis facing Newfoundland and Labrador.” Tibbs indicated the PCs aren’t willing to entertain the idea, instead saying that, “anybody can come and have a chat with me any time they wish.”

At the protest outside, Smith pleaded to government to work with unhoused people toward a strategy supported by those with lived experience.

“This is our home. These are our lives. We deserve to build a future on more than uncertainty and temporary solutions,” she said. “We are asking for a plan that provides real housing, lasting stability, safety, dignity, and a genuine opportunity to move forward. We are asking you to work with us, not simply make decisions for us. The residents of Horizons deserve better and we will continue to fight for it,” Smith concluded.

Smith said Horizons residents and supporters will march from the building on Airport Road to Confederation Building in early November.

Horizons at 106 is slated for closure by the end of December and the government has said it expected to have all residents relocated by Dec. 15.