Newfoundland and Labrador uprooting unhoused people in rural areas, workers say

ST. JOHN'S - Front-line housing workers in central Newfoundland say the province is transporting local homeless people out of their communities to other towns with more services — sometimes buying them bus tickets all the way to the capital, St. John's.

Sherri Chippett in Grand Falls-Windsor says people needing housing in her area used to be able to stay in their home communities. Now the province will typically offer them a bed an hour away in Gander, or they'll be sent to St. John's, said Chippett, the executive director of the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing and Homelessness Network.