Transit terminal in North Bay being used as warming shelter
Those who need to get warm are heading to the transit terminal in the North Bay's downtown.
Due to the ongoing pandemic, local social service agencies are short-staffed, meaning there's no daytime warming shelter open.
"We just don’t have the staffing to look after the facility,"said Mark King, chair of District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board.
"The liability issues surrounding these warming centres is very, very tricky, and you have to be very careful about who’s actually looking after it and whether or not it’s safe."
Drew Poeta, manager of transit with the City of North Bay, told CTV News people have been warming up in the terminal since November, so more recently security was hired.
"We have security in the week with one at the door as well as our staff, monitoring the door and the people in the lobby,"said Poeta.
Security guards
"On the weekends we have two security guards available, who are able to provide a safe environment making sure people follow COVID protocol and the city’s code of conduct."
The terminal can operate as a warming centre until March, but King and Poeta said it’s just a temporary solution.
"We’re hoping that some of the community groups are able to set something up more appropriate than the transit terminal," said Poeta.
"It’s absolutely not the place for it, without question," said King
"That’s a transit building, designed for people to move in and through the city, it’s not a warming centre."
King said he is in ongoing conversations with local service agencies and said he’s hoping a properly staffed warming centre will open in the next few days, which will be located downtown at the old health unit building.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.