Around 40 people staged a protest in Sandy Bay.
The local residents say they’re fed up with high rental costs and don’t want to see any more people evicted out of their homes.
Doreen Morin has lived in Sandy Bay all her life.
She says some people can’t afford to pay the rent and she also doesn’t feel they’re getting enough help from the Northeast Regional Housing Authority:
“But I’ll tell you it’s a suffering process when you have to pay most of your pay-cheque towards rent. I don’t think they understand that. I believe they’re not compassionate to what people have to go through here at Sandy Bay.”
One of the demonstrators says rent can run as high as $500 to $700 a month.
Myrtle Morin says she lost her home two years ago after she couldn’t afford the $600 rent.
She says she knows other people who have been recently evicted as well:
“We just had six here recently and that doesn’t look right because winter is right around the corner and where are these poor little kids going to live?”
Meantime Roger Parenteau of Sask Housing says steps are taken to try and keep people in their homes.
He says rent is based on gross household income.
Right now that figure hovers between 26-to-29%.
He also stresses they don’t evict tenants unless the situation gets extremely serious:
“If a person went from a working income and lost their job and went to unemployment insurance their rent could be reduced immediately, and if people fall behind there’s also arrangements made to allow people to catch up.”
He says repayment plans can stretch between three to six months.
He adds the housing agency is always willing to talk with the tenant to see if a solution can be found.