Social media video sheds light on homeless frustrations in Prince Albert

By Nigel Maxwell

The executive director of the Prince Albert Indian Metis Friendship Centre said she felt sad after seeing the contents of a video posted to social media last week and feels the community has a long way to go when it comes to understanding the homeless.

Janet Carriere was asked by paNOW to comment on the 90-second security camera footage that shows a homeless woman pushing a full shopping cart down a walkway in the city’s East Hill area. Out of frame emerges a man who crosses the street, approaches the woman, and proceeds to push the shopping cart over, spilling all the contents onto the grass.

“Get the (expletive) out of my neighbourhood,” the man can be heard saying to the woman.

A verbal altercation takes place and the woman can be heard explaining she’s homeless and tells the man he would be doing the same if he was in her situation.

“No, I wouldn’t. I’d get a job and make my life better,” the man replies.

Further explaining how hard her life is, the woman makes another tearful plea to the man.

“No, it’s not. You get everything given to you,” he replies.

The man then turns to leave but turns back to address the woman again.

“Why do you have to be so mean like this?” the woman asks while crying.

The man then tells the woman that people like her are wrecking his house, and then before turning to leave, once again tells her to get a job. Carriere explained it is not as simple as that.

“It’s pretty hard to get a job when you don’t have an address, or a phone for an employer to call you to offer a job,” she said.

At no point during the video do any neighbours offer to help the woman pick up her belongings, beyond someone asking if she’s OK. Carriere said she can understand the man’s frustration but adds that assuming every homeless person is a problem is the same as suggesting every homeowner will attack the homeless person.

“I think that our community has a long ways to go in educating ourselves and learning a little more about the legacies of the residential schools,” Carriere said.

Prince Albert police were called and responded to the area just after 5:30 p.m. A spokesperson confirmed at this time they are looking into it. In the meantime, Carriere acknowledged there have seemingly been a lot more homeless people visible on the streets but added these were the same people that before COVID could find refuge in bank lobbies.

“When COVID came, everything got locked up and they had nowhere to go where they used to just slip in and out and we didn’t really notice them,” she said

The man in the video

Speaking to paNOW on the condition his name and address not be published, the man seen in the video explained this was not his first experience with the woman, adding she had been in his yard before and told not to come back.

“Somebody has to stand up for their own property and their own rights,” he said. “You don’t have to hurt people, you just have to push them away, tell them not to come back.”

Reiterating that at no point did he ever lay a hand on her, the man also explained a neighbour down the street had an incident with the woman in his yard, and he himself had had bikes and tools stolen, albeit from different people.

In separate incidents, the man came home to find a stranger in his garage, attempting to steal some fishing equipment. Another time the man explained he had a gun pulled on him in his backyard.

“I really don’t know if there really is an answer to it because there is so much of it,” he said when asked what approach he thought the city should take.

The man then added it’s not only the homeless but also people not working, just wandering the streets, looking for something to steal.

“I got an extra dog because they cut through my yard,” he said. “It’s just steady.”

The man behind the camera

Also agreeing to speak to paNOW on the condition his name not be published, the man who watched the incident through the lens of his security camera said he was quite surprised to watch the events unfold.

“I have never seen anything like that. To pick on a homeless girl I think was pretty disrespectful,” he said.

The neighbour said he had personally never experienced any issues, nor had any need to call the police. The neighbour was also asked what he thought would be a good solution. He responded by saying more funding from the government to open up a year-round homeless shelter in Prince Albert would help.

The status of Prince Albert’s current cold weather shelter (Stepping Stones) remains up in the air and whether it will reopen this winter. The shelter had been funded during COVID, but those funds have expired.

A shelter alternative was discussed during this week’s council meeting but no decisions were made. Carriere told paNOW she has faith in the community that a solution will be found.

Going back to the video, she explained it’s just sad that we’ve come to this, adding her opinion of Prince Albert as a community is bigger than this and better than this.

“We are a caring and kind community and I don’t want to let the actions of one or two individuals make people think otherwise,” she said.