New Brunswick What was meant to be an information session about a new project in Fredericton to house homeless people quickly turned into the grilling of two ministers over what many perceived as a lack of consultation. Consultation over Forest Hill Road site questioned by many people in crowdSam Farley · CBC News · Posted: Nov 13, 2025 6:37 AM EST | Last Updated: 2 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 5 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Provincial ministers Dave Hickey and Cindy Miles were questioned and yelled at Wednesday night for how they handled consultation on a plan for homeless housing. (Sam Farley/CBC) An information session about a new Fredericton housing project for homeless quickly turned into the grilling of two ministers for nearly three hours over what many perceived as a lack of consultation.The province announced last week that a location on Forest Hill Road was chosen for a transitional housing project.The public was invited to an information session at a nearby elementary school Wednesday night where they could ask questions of various groups and officials involved.But that changed when Green Party MLA David Coon, who represents the area, took charge of the packed room with a loud whistle, and asked Housing Minister David Hickey and Social Development Minister Cindy Miles to speak.Suddenly given a forum, the crowd of over a hundred, packed into a hot school gymnasium, began questioning the purpose of the meeting if the decision had already been made. “The location itself is not what’s being debated,” Hickey said, before being abruptly cut off with jeers from the room. Many in the crowd were respectful, while about a dozen residents continuously shouted over and yelled at the ministers, at times not letting others speak. (Sam Farley/CBC)“The conversation we want to have tonight is how we’re going to make sure this is going to work for everyone,” he went on to say before being loudly heckled again. One man asked Hickey why he was wasting their time. Another yelled out that the process was “anti-democratic.” Many in the crowd were respectful, while about a dozen residents continuously shouted over and yelled at the ministers, at times not letting others speak.The most common issue raised was the proximity of the site to the school where the information session was being held. They are roughly 300 metres apart. “I don’t feel safe sending my son to this school, knowing your building is right there,” yelled one woman. Several parents who pointed and jeered at Hickey clutched their children with their other hand.Many people asked the ministers about drug needles being found on the playground, and Miles and Hickey said security could be hired to sweep the school property every day. After questions from the audience, Hickey said the school district had not been consulted. 24-unit development will be built by new yearThe project is being developed by Marcel LeBrun, founder of 12 Neighbours, which has been providing stable, permanent housing through tiny homes over the past three years to people living rough. LeBrun said the houses are slated to be built by Jan. 1 and there would be around-the-clock security on site.The houses would be built in a similar style to 12 Neighbours. Hickey said there would be 24 units at this location. Residents would not be allowed to bring guests, and LeBrun’s non-profit would carefully select the people offered housing, which he described as temporary. “Our job is to get you out of there because we’re trying to then move people to permanent housing. That’s the idea,” LeBrun said.“But it’s not just a ‘show up and you get in,’ like a shelter.”Asked by crowd members about drug use, LeBrun said the units would be people’s homes, so just like any other home, legal substances like alcohol and cannabis are legal. Province says municipality was consultedHickey was again shouted at when he said the province had knocked on doors near the site, and then admitted that the radius for consulting neighbours could have been improved. Hickey said the project was agreed on “in partnership with the municipality,” which caused people in the crowd to shout him down and ask Coun. Greg Ericson and Mayor Kate Rogers, who were standing nearby, for their opinion.Ericson said provincial officials came to a meeting of council’s public safety committee on Oct. 2 and said they had selected a site, but did not say where.“We did ask, they did not tell us,” Ericson said after people in the crowd then began to heckle him. Coun. Greg Ericson, left, represents the area. He said a council committee had been told a site was chosen, but the location wasn’t given. (Sam Farley/CBC)Rogers explained that the site had already been zoned properly and was owned by the province, which is “why I’m not making excuses for why there was not consultation.”Rogers said she wouldn’t “weigh in” on whether there should have been more consultation.“Minister Miles called me one day and said we have identified a site that is owned by the province, that is zoned appropriately, we think it might be the solution,” Rogers said.She said the planning was not “backroom, behind the scenes,” which elicited groans and shouting from the crowd. Miles told the crowd that about 20 other rejected locations would be shared publicly. Even supporters question consultationMegan Melanson, who lives nearby, said she got good information from the tables set up around the room.She said she was excited to hear of the supportive housing plan that would get people off of the streets, but noted that consultation could have been better.“I didn’t get consulted and I literally live in the backyard of the school here,” she said.Nearby resident Mark Bray said he supported the project, but that communication about it was ‘dropped completely’ by the government. (Sam Farley/CBC)Mark Bray also lives nearby and said he supports the project but was concerned about the location being near the on and off ramps from the Princess Margaret Bridge and the safety of the residents. “My biggest take from this is that communication is really, really important and that was dropped completely by the government,” Bray said. “That’s gotta be the number 1 reason why people were so emotional about it.”ABOUT THE AUTHORSam Farley is a Fredericton-based reporter at CBC New Brunswick. Originally from Boston, he is a journalism graduate of the University of King’s College in Halifax. He can be reached at sam.farley@cbc.ca
Fredericton crowd grills ministers for hours over homeless housing location
