Police investigating after second homeless Nova Scotia man dies in as many weeks

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This article was published 05/12/2024 (542 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

KENTVILLE, N.S. – Police in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley are investigating the second sudden death of a homeless person within the past two weeks, prompting a local social advocate to sound the alarm about worsening weather.

The Kentville Police Service issued a statement Thursday saying the body of a 52-year-old man was found Wednesday morning in a park known as Miner’s Marsh. Investigators do not suspect foul play, but the province’s medical examiner has been called in to determine the cause of death.

Last week, the RCMP confirmed that on Nov. 26 a man was found dead outside an ice fishing tent where he lived in Windsor, N.S., about 40 kilometres east of Kentville. A memorial service for William (Billy) Walsh, who was in his mid-50s, is scheduled for Dec. 11.

In Kentville, town councillor John Andrew said the man who died Wednesday was found in a tent, where had been living for some time.

“Because of serious drug-related mental health issues, (he) wasn’t able to stay in a congregate setting,” said Andrew, who is also the founder of Valley Connect Outreach, a volunteer-run organization that provides food, shelter and compassionate care to those who need it.

He described the man as a kind-hearted, sensitive individual who struggled with his mental health.

“He was capable of having deep conversations,” Andrew said, adding that the man grew up in the Kentville area. “He was a deeply spiritual person and also very kind …. He just wanted a place to call his own and to feel safe.”

Andrew said his organization had supplied the man with food, clothing and sleeping bags, but he wasn’t allowed into the organization’s shelter because of behavioural issues that may have been exacerbated by illicit drug use.

“These issues are very rapidly becoming more prevalent in small-town Canada,” Andrew said Wednesday after meeting with the man’s sister to make funeral arrangements.

“Even in small towns like this, you’re dealing with fentanyl and crystal meth. Those things are game-changers. And then you have a housing crisis that is just out of control.”

There was a time when unhoused people seeking solitude in the Annapolis Valley could afford to live on their own in a small, rundown apartment, but those days are over, Andrew said. “Those places are almost non-existent now.”

While the provincial government has been crowing about Nova Scotia’s rapidly growing population, Andrew argued that Premier Tim Houston’s bid to double the province’s population by 2060 is irresponsible.

“At some point we have to say, ‘Stop the press(es),'” he said. “We have to rethink this.”

Looking ahead, Andrew said he’s worried now that temperatures across Nova Scotia are routinely dropping below the freezing mark. “We’ve had a couple of deaths in our region, and the really shocking cold weather hasn’t even come yet,” he said.

In Windsor, N.S., a spokesperson for the Windsor-West Hants Caremongers said Walsh was a regular at the organization’s warming centre. Connie Pollock said that before becoming homeless, he was a welder and an accomplished motocross racer.

As well, she said he was only a week away from being placed in an affordable housing unit in Yarmouth, N.S., when he died. Had he lived in a safer place, “it would have made the world of difference to him,” she said.

Police said his death was not considered suspicious.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 5, 2024.

— By Michael MacDonald in Halifax.