SASKATOON -- Seventy-year-old Sharon Bradley has about a month-and-a-half to leave her home in the Saskatoon neighbourhood of McNab Park, before it’s torn down to make way for commercial development.
"Trying to think of a word other than pissed, but that'll work,” she said.
Alberta company Strongwater Investments owns the land and has given eviction notices to all residents in the neighbourhood, but finding a new place to live hasn’t been easy.
"Well we've gone and put in a lot of applications at places,” Bradley said. “People are sympathetic to what's happening here in the park, because they don't think it's right that we were only given two months notice instead of the six that we were originally promised."
Kim Kostyna has lived in McNab Park since 2006.
"I'm kind of stuck actually,” he said. “I've got a camper to live in. I've got nowhere to go as of yet."
Kostyna, 67, said he's been in charge of maintenance in McNab Park, so he hasn’t had to pay rent. He said finding another place in the city to live in that fits within his budget has been difficult.
"I'm going to apply with the Saskatchewan Housing Authority to see if I can get a place there, but that takes time,” he said.
President of the board of directors for the Saskatoon Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) Toby Esterby, said many families with modest means in Saskatoon are struggling to pay rent.
"There is a simple and black and white lack of affordable housing units in Saskatoon,” he said. "Organizations, private landlords, and all levels of government too. The city has a role to play in this, the province has a role to play in this, the federal government has a role to play in this with (its) national housing strategy."
Bradley said she’s worried about the people that live in McNab Park, who may not have any other place to go.
"My neighbour next door, she's on welfare, and all welfare will give her is $459 a month,” she said. “What's she going to find for $459? Nothing. Absolutely nothing."
