On August 20 2024, Celine Porcheron, President of the Ocean Breeze Residents Association (OBRA), sent a heartfelt letter to the Premier of Nova Scotia, inviting him to visit the community, which is currently being demolished in phases. In her letter, Porcheron describes the hardships residents face, including potential displacement and skyrocketing rents. She emphasizes that this is the largest displacement in Nova Scotia since Africville and urges the Premier to personally witness the community’s struggles and understand the human impact of the ongoing demolition.
The Premier, as usual, deflected the matter and delegated a reply to the Housing Minister. The Ministers reply is included below.
——————- Original Message ——————-
From: Celine Porcheron <>;
Received: Tue Aug 20 2024 13:21:52 GMT-0300 (Atlantic Daylight Time)
To: Premier <premier@novascotia.ca>; ECO/OP Premier <premier@novascotia.ca>;
Subject: Ocean breeze village invitation
Hello ,
I am the President of the Ocean Breeze Residents Association. Our community, as you know is being demolished, piece by piece .Many of us still live here and have no choice to stay and watch .We are facing double and tripling of our rent if/when we move.We would like to invite you to come and witness with us, the largest displacement of a community in NS since Africville.We feel ignored . Your responses and minister Lohr ‘s responses to our situation have been extremely disheartening.A crisis beyond what we have seen to this date is waiting to happen. Some of my neighbors will have no choice but to live on the streets .Please , we implore you to come and help us understand why this is happening, and just what your government promised to do to make sure this will never happen again .Looking forward to hearing from youCeline PorcheronPresidentOcean Breeze Residents Association