Pregnant and homeless in the Arctic: housing crisis hits Canadian territory
Pregnant and homeless in the Arctic: housing crisis hits Canadian territory
Family’s story of life in a makeshift tent in Iqaluit underscores severe public housing crisis in Canada’s northernmost territory
Thursday 29 October 2015 11.54 EDT
Conditions in the Arctic town of Iqaluit are tough at the best of times: temperatures drop well below freezing for two thirds of the year, and in the winter, the settlement – capital of Canada’s northernmost territory Nunavut – is strafed by blizzards.
But for the past three months, an indigenous family of six, including a pregnant woman and an 18-month-old baby, have been forced to live in a makeshift tent in the town while they wait for public housing.
Since July, Alison Nakoolak, 36, her partner Norman Laisa and their four children have been living in the tarp-covered tent after losing their home when Laisa gave up a second job.
“It’s cold inside the tent,” Nakoolak told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. “It’s hard for us to live there.”
More:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/29/homeless-family-housing-crisis-hits-canadian-territory
