Social work students and their professor have planned a protest at St. John’s City hall at noon on Monday, calling on the city to keep Bannerman Park bathrooms open for Tent City protesters, past 8:00PM.

In a news release from social work students, they say today at noon students will drop off an old toilet wrapped in rusty chains on the steps of City Hall to protest the lack of access to toilets for resident-protestors. Students and their professor will invite Mayor Breen to provide the ‘key’ to unlock the bathrooms of Bannerman Park.

Dr. Julia Janes, a professor, and the students of two community practice classes at the School of Social Work at MUNL have been contacting Mayor Breen and city councillors to demand that the Bannerman Park bathrooms be kept open 24/7 for the resident-protestors “With all due respect Mayor Breen but do you have to use the bathroom after 8 pm?” asks Dr. Janes.

In response to the students’ campaign, Mayor Breen assured that: “There are community partners nearby the encampment at Colonial Building which provide these sorts of facilities for those experiencing housing insecurity.”

“Mayor Breen is wrong. Community-based organizations in the vicinity do not have the capacity to provide 24/7 washrooms,” says volunteer-protestor Jude Benoit. “We have been told that the Gathering Place does not have the resources to provide night-time toileting for Tent City.” There are no viable options for the Tent City resident protestors after 8 pm other than a laneway or a bush.

NTV News will be at the protest, and will provide coverage on the NTV Evening Newshour.