Nenshi responds to Bubbles' criticism of Midfield Mobile Home Park closure
Bubbles is standing up for a Calgary trailer park.
The popular character on the Trailer Park Boys television show played by actor Mike Smith tweeted to Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi earlier in the week to criticize the planned closure of the Midfield Mobile Home Park.
Nenshi responded today during a call-in on CBC Radio's Alberta@noon.
"I'm just not 100 per cent convinced that Mr. Bubbles knows the full back story," he said.
The city decided to close the park in northeast Calgary in 2017, but residents there have faced uncertainty for years as council debated what to do with the land.
"Now that the final decision has been made, tenants know that they have three years to find other accommodation and that they will be given a package to help ease the transition," said Nenshi last year when the closure was announced.
The park had 173 mobile homes and many residents are seniors, some who have lived there for 40 years.
The city is offering counselling services, a lump sum payment of $10,000 and up to $10,000 to cover the cost of moving a trailer.
The decision has dismayed many trailer park residents, and they have been fighting against it ever since.
"Reaction to Bubbles supporting us has been uplifting for many — seeing twinkling eyes and smiles we haven't seen the past year," said resident Cindy MacDonald. "They are very, very grateful to Mike Smith [Bubbles] for his support."
She said there is "nowhere to move the homes we own to," and the $20,000 payment would probably only cover moving costs and not land purchase.
"We own our homes, rent the land they sit on, paid decades of lot rent and taxes, but it was not used for Midfield infrastructure upkeep," said MacDonald. "Why?"
A plan to build a new mobile home park on 84 Street N.E., known as East Hills Estates, has been discarded because officials say it's not financially viable.
According to the city, the developer built the park in 1968, turning it over to the city five years later. The Calgary Housing Company has managed the park since 2001.
