Working men facing eviction from the dilapidated Canadian Hotel have been visited by Housing Minister Sen. David Burch who called to give a personal re-assurance on efforts being made to find them somewhere else to stay.

The future of nearly 60 single, mostly working men staying at the property is uncertain after hotel owner Thomas Powell was told it could no longer be insured.

Faced with an estimated cost of $1.5 million to bring it back to a safe and insurable condition, Mr. Powell has been forced to call it a day after allowing the property to act as a low-rent boarding house for almost 20 years giving shelter to working men who might otherwise be living on the streets.

The closure date is set for February 28, at which time Sen. Burch anticipates makeshift accommodation at a property in Southside will provide a new home for the displaced residents.

That building needs renovations to bring two floors up to a habitable condition. If it is not ready in time the hotel boarders may become temporary residents at the Regiment?s Warwick Camp.

In an effort to address the anxieties of some who had spoken of their scepticism that the Government was going to come to the rescue, Sen. Burch paid a private visit to the hotel on Reid Street, Hamilton on Friday evening.

Despite it being an unofficial appointment spoke to the Minister as he left the hotel having spoken with residents.

The Senator said he had met hotel manager Larry Thomas earlier in the day and agreed to meet the residents in person to tell them what arrangements were being prepared.

?The residents were having a meeting and I ran into the manager today and he asked me if I would come along, which I did. I?m pleased we have been able to come up with a solution,? he said.

Afterwards residents spoke of their sadness that the hotel had to close, and their tentative optimism that Government would fulfil its pledge to ensure they had another roof over their head, whether at Southside or Warwick Camp.

McLaine Campbell, who has been at the hotel for three years, said: ?Personally I?m still worried. The owner could have given us more than four weeks notice. We could have saved up some money and prepared for what was coming.?

Mr. Campbell said the Southside option was preferable to Warwick Camp, as the military camp?s dormitory-style living would give little privacy for individuals.

Asked what he thought about the Senator?s personal visit, he said: ?I feel the Minister cares. Some politicians don?t care about the working people.

?But we are the people who vote those people into their jobs and they should come out to see the working people, see how we feel and ask if they are doing a good job.?

He added: ?This place has been a roof over our heads. It has been a blessing and I want to thank Larry Thomas for sticking his neck out and helping us. I don?t think anyone else would have done it. He did what he had to do to make things right for us.?

Other residents also praised manager Mr. Thomas for getting a portion of the run-down building ?fixed up? to a habitable condition and placing a locked gate entrance to provide security.

Resident Walter Lightbourne was living and sleeping in a truck until Mr. Thomas was able to find him a room at the hotel. Mr. Lightbourne, who has a job and has now been a resident for seven months, said: ?This is heaven. I don?t care what anyone else says about this place, I can go to work and come back and have somewhere safe to stay.?

Mr. Lightbourne said moving to Southside would mean a longer ride to get to work but it was at least somewhere to go.

Another resident doubted he would be alive if it hadn?t been for the help of Mr. Thomas.

He said: ?Mr. Thomas has given us somewhere to stay. He?s a good man and he?s got a lot of patience. He?s got it liveable to what it is today. The guys are comfortable here and have got to know it as home.?

Andrew Philip Haywood said any disputes between residents were rare and often settled with prompt apologies.

But he did think there was more the Government could do to help those, like himself, who were getting on in years and had little means of supporting themselves.

?I?m 70 and I only work 10 hours a week and get $400. I always pay my bills. But Financial Assistance told be they couldn?t help me,? he said.

Larry Thomas, who looks after the running of the hotel for Mr. Powell, said the meeting with Sen. Burch had calmed residents? nerves and made some feel more hopeful.

He said if the Southside property is not ready by February 28 he would like to ask for a little more time for residents to stay in the hotel.

In a statement last week, Sen. Burch said it was intended to house the men on two floors of a building in Southside, which has a top floor set aside for emergency housing for families.

In the long run a permanent home for the hotel residents will come when the Government?s projected $28 million new homeless shelter is built in North Street with room to help 200 people. Funding for that project is expected to be announced in the Budget later this month.

Hotel owner Mr. Powell approached the Government in early January to inform them that he was unable to re-insure the hotel because of its run-down state.

Health Minister Patrice Minors and Sen. Burch held a joint Press conference at which they stated efforts during the past four weeks to find a way of keeping the hotel open had proved unsuccessful. It is now expected that the hotel will be demolished and replaced with an office block.