Further explaining how hard her life is, the woman makes another tearful plea to the man. “No it’s not. You take what you’re given,” 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, crying. The man then tells the woman that people like her are ruining his house and then, before turning to leave, he once again tells her to get a job. Janet Carriere explained that it’s not that simple. “It’s very difficult to get a job when you don’t have an address or a phone number for an employer to call you to offer you a job,” he said. At no point during the video does a neighbor offer to help the woman get her belongings, beyond asking if she’s okay. Carriere said she can understand the man’s frustration, but adds that to assume that every homeless person is a problem is like suggesting that every homeowner will attack the homeless person. “I think our community has a long way to go to educate ourselves and learn a little bit more about the legacy of homeschooling,” Carriere said. Prince Albert police were called and responded to the area just after 5:30 p.m. A spokesperson just confirmed at this time that they are looking into it. Meanwhile, Carriere acknowledged that there were seemingly far more homeless people visible on the streets, but added that these were the same people who before COVID could find shelter in bank lobbies. “When COVID came, everything was locked down and they had nowhere to go where they were just sliding in and out and we didn’t really notice them,” he said. The man in the video Talking to you paNOW On condition that his name and address not be published, the man seen in the video explained that this was not his first experience with the woman, adding that he had gone to his yard before and told her not to come back. “One has to defend one’s own property and one’s 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 that a neighbor down the street had an incident with the woman in his yard and that his bikes and tools had been stolen, albeit by different people. In separate incidents, the man returned home to find a stranger in his garage trying to steal some fishing gear. Another time, the man explained that a gun was pointed at him in his backyard. “I really don’t know if there’s really an answer because there’s so much,” he said when asked what approach he thinks the city should take. The man then added that it is not only the homeless but also people who are not working, just wandering the streets, looking for something to steal. “I got an extra dog because they crossed my yard,” she said. “It’s just solid.” The man behind the camera He also agrees to talk paNOW The man, who watched the incident through his security camera lens on condition of anonymity, said he was surprised to see the events unfold.
“I’ve never seen anything like that, picking on a homeless girl I think was pretty disrespectful,” she said. The neighbor said he personally has never had any problems, nor has he had to call the police. The neighbor was also asked what he thought would be a good solution. He responded by saying more government funding to open a year-round homeless shelter in Prince Albert. The status of Prince Albert’s 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. Janet Carrier said paNOW he has faith in the community that a solution will be found. Returning to the video, she explained that it’s just sad that it’s come to this, adding that her opinion of Prince Albert as a community is bigger than that and better than that. “We are a caring and kind community and I don’t want to let the actions of one or two people make people think differently,” he said. — [email protected] Twitter: @nigelmaxwell