EDMONTON -- Chris Perry admits it: when he went public opposing a low-income housing project in his posh Alberta suburb, he could have chosen his words with a little more care.
The St. Albert man apologized on the weekend for what he says was a poorly worded letter he wrote to his local city councillors - published in the local paper - opposing a proposed Habitat for Humanity project, linking it with elevated crime rates and "unruly" families.
"The way I came across was just terrible," said Perry, 35. "I do apologize to everybody for that."
In the letter, Chris and Karleena Perry write that the project will affect all residents of St. Albert, a high-income district just north of Edmonton.
"The average family income for St. Albert is higher than in Edmonton or any other area municipality. We moved to St. Albert because we can afford it and we deserve it. This is a great city with great families. We feel comfortable joining in activities we would not have considered in Edmonton," says an excerpt from the letter.
"This development is a bad idea for St. Albert for both current residents and the people who will occupy the new development. Current residents will have to deal with the likeliness of children influenced by crime in our schools and adults in our community. Our cost of living will increase as we will have to pay for low-income subsidies due to higher school fees or other taxes.
"We won't feel comfortable taking our kids to activities like movie night in the park or other St. Albert events for fear that there will be unruly families. We can assure each other that measures will be taken to prevent this influence, but that's not what we want."
Outrage over Perry's comments spread quickly as links to the letter were posted on social media such as Twitter and Facebook.
Perry said he has made a point of trying to better explain himself by responding to requests for media interviews and to angry e-mails and phone calls since his letter was published.
"The reaction, a lot of it has been negative," said Perry. "People said, 'I understand your point, but you came across as an ass,' and I do agree with that."
Perry said he is opposed to the Habitat for Humanity project because the proposed site for the development is too small, doesn't have adequate parking and will create traffic problems in the area. Perry said he fears that development will spur similar developments in St. Albert that are poorly planned, eventually leading to more social problems in the community.
"What I was trying to say was this development needs to be thought out more," he said. "I didn't intend on discriminating against low-income families."
Habitat for Humanity is an organization that provides affordable housing to low-income families. To participate in the program, clients must earn at least $32,000 per year and spend hundreds of hours helping to build homes.
The Perrys' letter, which is posted on the St. Albert Gazette's website, has sparked a firestorm of responses on blogs and other Internet sites such as Twitter.
Habitat for Humanity Edmonton CEO Alfred Nikolai said he was stunned by the letter's contents.
"It's so not typical of the type of community support our organization gets," he said.
"There are no guns hanging out of the windows here. It's just foolishness."
Higher-earning Families Part of St. Albert's Appeal
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