Review highlights challenges facing Timmins homeless shelter
A special city council meeting in Timmins on Wednesday evening focused on the future of the Living Space homeless shelter and a report highlighting issues that need to be resolved.
A presentation to council sparked discussion around what a better shelter and services could look like -- and that changes will cost more money than is currently available.
“Homelessness will get worse in Canada, and it will get worse in northern Ontario, and it will get worse in Timmins,” Cochrane District Social Services Administration Board director Brian Marks told councillors.
Marks said the pressure is on to take creative action to make the homeless shelter his agency funds better and improve the city’s mental health and addictions care system.
A review of Living Space found that people feel it’s not run effectively, doesn’t offer enough support to clients and that its location makes nearby residents feel unsafe.
Hearing those findings, some city councillors felt the shelter should be moved and re-imagined.
“More of a one-stop, so one place they can attend and we’d have the agencies 24/7,” said Coun. John Curley.
A special city council meeting in Timmins on Wednesday evening focused on the future of the Living Space homeless shelter and a report highlighting issues that need to be resolved. (File)
Marks agreed that the city needs more shelters and that his agency is working to fix issues that arose from the review. But he said the situation is at a point where the community needs to work with what it already has.
“We need to change the way we do things because there is no more money to be able to add resources, to dedicate those solely to homelessness,” Marks said.
Money to 'fix this'
Coun. Steve Black remarked that someone does have the money to fix this.
“This collective group should be going down to the province and saying, ‘This is our issue. You have failed to address this issue,’” Black said.
“Maybe the funding comes from the federal government and they’re not committing it. Invite them to the same table.”
The review didn’t include a concrete action plan moving forward, leaving some in the audience with mixed feelings.
“There wasn’t a lot of answers that I expected to hear,” one person in attendance told CTV News.
“I was expecting more, moving forward, hearing about rehabilitation and other options, but there wasn’t much discussion of it.”
o Download our app to get local alerts on your device
o Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
But Mayor Michelle Boileau said the review was a starting point for action.
“We are looking for ways to be able to move forward and move through this, and so you did present tangible action items,” Boileau said.
“I think the city has to take the lead in leading this challenge, with a whole bunch of shared partners within our community,” Marks added.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Trudeau acknowledges charges in Nijjar killing, calls for commitment to democracy
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has acknowledged the charges laid Friday in relation to the murder of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Bodies recovered in Mexico likely 2 Australians, 1 American who went missing: officials
Three bodies recovered in an area of Baja California are likely to be those of the two Australians and an American who went missing last weekend during a camping and surfing trip, the state prosecutor’s office said Saturday.
Princess Anne lays wreath at B.C. veteran's cemetery; receives 21-gun salute
Princess Anne paid tribute to veterans buried at a cemetery in British Columbia today, laying a wreath to honour the more than 2,500 military personnel and family members buried there.
Mystik Dan wins the 150th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in a three-horse photo finish
Mystik Dan won the 150th Kentucky Derby in a photo finish, edging out Forever Young and Sierra Leone for the upset victory.
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Work stoppage possible as WestJet issues lockout notice to maintenance engineers' union
A lockout notice issued by WestJet to a union representing aircraft maintenance engineers could result in a work stoppage next week.
London Drugs begins 'gradual reopening' on 7th day after cyberattack
Almost a week after all London Drugs stores across Western Canada abruptly closed amid a cyberattack, they began a "gradual reopening" on Saturday.