Saint John housing advocates mourned John Surette after the 58-year-old was found dead in a tent near Paradise Row in September 2024. Police said the circumstances were not considered criminal, while outreach workers remembered a generous neighbour and warned about the danger facing people outdoors as winter approached.
Police found him on Saturday morning
The Saint John Police Force located Surette’s body in a north-end encampment and scheduled an autopsy. Until that examination, responsible reporting could not assign a medical cause of death.
A non-criminal classification did not make the death inevitable or unimportant.
Outreach workers knew him well
Johanne McCullough of Street Team Saint John said volunteers had worked with Surette for several years. Team members consistently described him as friendly, helpful and attentive to other residents.
On nights when food was short, he had sometimes given his meal to someone else.
Encampments can form close communities
People sleeping outside often share information, supplies and protection when formal systems fail them. Surette’s death brought grief to residents as well as volunteers.
Recognizing those relationships challenges portrayals of encampments as anonymous collections of tents.
The site had seen previous deaths
He was found near the area where three people died in two tent fires during the preceding winter. Heating and cooking in improvised shelters can create fire and carbon-monoxide hazards.
Cold also brings frostbite, hypothermia and worsening chronic illness.
Food demand strained the street team
The volunteer organization served about 40 to 60 meals on six nights each week and said supplies were chronically depleted. Food, water, hygiene items and blankets met urgent needs but could not substitute for homes.
Dependence on donations leaves essential support vulnerable to fluctuating resources.
Chronic homelessness was increasing
The Human Development Council counted 192 people experiencing chronic homelessness in the Saint John area as of July 2024. Point-in-time and administrative counts can still miss people who avoid services or move between temporary places.
The verified figure was therefore a minimum indicator, not a complete census.
Winter demanded rapid housing options
Advocates urged the province and city to move people indoors before temperatures fell. Low-barrier shelters, supportive housing, rent supplements and treatment access serve different needs and should be coordinated.
Closing an encampment without an acceptable destination merely relocates danger.
Dignity should guide public coverage
Housing status is relevant to the conditions surrounding a death, but it is not a person’s identity. Naming Surette and documenting his generosity avoids reducing him to a statistic.
Photographs and descriptions should also respect residents’ privacy during grief.
Preventing another death requires accountability
Officials should track shelter availability, housing placements, outdoor deaths and response times rather than issuing concern only after a tragedy. Autopsy findings may clarify immediate cause, while housing data reveal structural risk.
Surette’s death was mourned because he was part of a community. The policy test was whether governments would treat that community’s exposure to cold, fire and illness as a preventable public emergency, and provide safe routes from tents to stable homes before another winter claimed more lives.
