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Before moving into a larger container on the lot mid-November, Post emptied it of used needles, condoms and rotten mattresses. Outside, he’s built a pond, planted trees and cleaned up junk left over the years. Inside, he’s made a bedroom, living room and washroom, inspired by home-renovation shows he watched in prison long ago. It’s filled with stuff salvaged from construction waste bins and alleyways, which have given him a bed and wardrobe.

Photo by Jason Payne / PNG

“It’s amazing what people leave and throw away,” Post said.

He has no electricity and reads paperbacks under LED lights. He’s building a brick fireplace but for now warms up with a camping stove and by cuddling his kitten, Stevie Nicks.

“I’ve never built anything in my life,” he said. “I’m not mechanically inclined. I’m an idiot. And this isn’t coming out too bad.”

Post visits a friend’s place a couple blocks away for showers and laundry. In exchange, he cooks for the friend and his wife. But he’s also discovered that for $1.50, he can buy corner-store nachos and slather them with cheese, chili and onions — about 1,200 calories if laid on thick.

He earns a meagre income collecting bottles and doing cash construction and landscaping gigs. Parishioners from a neighbouring church and locals have left him food and money. He believes only one person has complained about his presence but said he hasn’t been told to leave. His interactions with city staff and police have been cordial, he said.

“I’m not bothering anybody,” Post said. “If the lot’s here, use it, man.”

Photo by Jason Payne / PNG

He explains his unconventional living situation like so: “First of all, ‘squatters’ rights.’ Secondly, this was abandoned. It’s been here for well over six years and it’s been unlocked and opened.”

“Squatters’ rights” don’t actually work in Post’s case. Only rights or titles acquired by adverse possession before July 1, 1975, are valid, according to the province. But until Post builds his log cabin on Crown land in the next two years, he hopes to stay put. He’s apprehensive about social housing, where he might live with people in active addiction after ceasing his own opioid use more than a decade ago. He can’t live with family — almost all are dead.