Encampment under Algonquin Boulevard in Timmins raises questions
For the past few weeks, some people who are living rough in Timmins have set up camp in a high profile area: underneath the overpass on Algonquin Boulevard at the Spruce Street intersection.
They told CTV News that this is where they feel comfortable and police said as long as they're not breaking any laws, it's their choice.
Timmins police officials said people have taken notice of the encampment and have called it in to the police.
“Nobody that we’re aware of who is currently at that encampment is technically in crisis," said Marc Depatie, communications coordinator for the Timmins Police Service.
"So we are monitoring the situation from an arm’s length point of view. The moment that any law’s broken, the police will react and take appropriate steps to remedy the situation.”
Brian Marks, chief administrative officer for the Cochrane Social Services Administration Board, said encampments have existed in the city for decades, but were hidden in the bush.
He said people don't seem to mind homelessness when it's hidden.
“I would say this is an opportunity to learn more," said Marks. "To try to understand what goes into homelessness and see it for what it is. That every individual has a story and, you know, for the person that has chosen to sleep under an overpass in Timmins, there’s a story there.”
Samantha McWatch is a member of the group. She said she was evicted from her apartment last winter.
"I had friends and family; it was cold and in winter time and I was allowing them to come stay with me," McWatch said.
"Apparently, there was complaints by the neighbour, but that should be a reason if they were inside my home, right. I pay rent through Ontario Works.
Marks said shelters in the city are not full at this point, but for whatever reason, these people do not want to sleep there.
Officials said outreach workers have met with the people under the overpass and have offered to connect them with services in the community, but said it's their decision whether to accept assistance.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit natural gas levies to the federal government, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer filled with relief and grief following acquittal in death of Toronto police officer
'We hoped for this day, but we were scared that it would not never ever come because it took so long.' That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.
North Bay doctor accused of assaulting patient, threatening another
A North Bay doctor is facing charges after allegedly assaulting a patient with a weapon and threatening another person at the hospital, police say.