Seniors living 'in fear' in provincial housing, P.E.I. Greens charge

A Green MLA is calling on government to staff at least one person in all government-owned seniors' housing buildings 24/7.

Karla Bernard raised the issue during question period on Tuesday. She said having a staff member in buildings at all timeswill help residents feel safe within their homes.

She told Minister of Social Development and Housing Brad Trivers she's heardtenants say they are sometimes afraid to be in their own apartments.

"Many seniors live in fear in their homes. Sometimes [there are] people screaming and banging around all hours of the night, there are people regularly checking windows from outside for places to sleep at night, there are neighbours harassing other neighbours," she said.

"And, in fact, when speaking to your department, they have also heard these concerns."

Bernard said many other jurisdictions have staff working in government-owned seniors' housing complexes to offer support with light maintenance andsecurity issues and to keep an eye on seniors' well-being.

She asked Trivers if this is something his department would consider implementing on P.E.I.

"Will you commit to having a 24/7 position such as this in every government-owned seniors' home?"

Housing officers visit weekly

According to the Department of Social Development and Housing, there are currently 1,100 seniors' housing units within 100 buildings across the province that are owned by the government.

Trivers saidhousing officers visit seniors' housing buildings at least once a week and he has confidence in their ability to take care of tenants' needs.

"We have staff that do check into these seniors' homes on a regular basis. For us to hire security for every seniors' unit across the province it's not needed and it's not feasible," Trivers said.

Speaking to reporters, Trivers said housing officers can also refer tenants to the provincialseniors' outreach officer for further support.

He acknowledged his department has received complaints, with most of the reports coming from buildings within the Charlottetown area.

"You're dealing with our larger social housing units, like apartment complexes for seniors, and it's challenging, but the housing officers really do a good job, I believe, handling this and referring to the seniors' outreach worker as needed," he said.

He said if the department were to see an increase in the number of complaints from a particular building, officials would consider adding staff within that complex.

"If it's a real security complaint, then we want to partner with the people who have the responsibility for thatwhether that be, for example, city police," Trivers said.

Maintenance issues

Bernard also raised concerns about the conditions at some seniors' housing buildings. She said she visited a seniors'building owned by the province in Charlottetown back in July, and saw that water had been leaking from the ceiling and leaving puddles on the ground.

She said permanent staff within seniors' housing buildings could help tenants address maintenance issues or repairs, which she said some buildings in Charlottetown are in desperate need of.

"The problem is not one or two calls, the problem is that these calls come in consistently I'm really worried about how our seniors are living in these situations," she said.

"This is their home. They live here, you know. They have an amount of pride and dignity that goes into the space and it's really shameful that we don't see that as a province and that we're not prioritizing the work in our seniors' homes," she said.

Trivers said housing officers look for maintenance issues when they visit buildings and report them back to the department to be fixed. He said in some cases getting workers in to address maintenance issues is taking longer than expected.

He said he would check with his department to confirm the issues at the building Bernard spoke about were resolved.

According to the department, government-owned seniors' buildings go through regular inspections at various times over the year. Trivers said there are also phone lines open throughout the day and night for tenants to use to report maintenance issues.