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
'A step forward': New screening criteria for sperm donors takes effect
Canadians looking to grow their families with the assistance of sperm or egg donations should soon have more options for donors as the federal health agency does away with longstanding restrictions criticized as discriminatory.
What is whooping cough and should Canadians be concerned as Europe declares outbreak?
There is currently a whooping cough epidemic in Europe, with 10 times as many cases compared to the previous two years. While an outbreak has not been declared nationwide in Canada, whooping cough is regularly detected in the country.
Ontario Provincial Police arrest 64 suspects in child sexual exploitation investigation
Ontario Provincial Police say 64 suspects are facing a combined 348 charges in connection with a series of child sexual exploitation investigations that spanned the province.
'Summer of discontent': Federal unions vow to fight new 3-day a week office mandate
Federal unions are launching legal challenges and encouraging public sector workers to file "tens of thousands" of grievances over the new mandate requiring federal workers to return to the office at least three days a week in the fall.
Watch fighter jet pilots pummel fake enemy ship off coast of Philippines
The United States and Philippines held annual joint-training drills just off the Southeast Asian nation’s western coast on Wednesday. Military forces sunk a 'mock' enemy warship – the BRP Lake Caliraya, which was a decommissioned tanker made in China.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his head more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.
'Ozempic babies': Reports of surprise pregnancies raise new questions about weight loss drugs
Numerous women have shared stories of 'Ozempic babies' on social media. But the joy some experience in discovering pregnancies may come with anxiety about the unknowns.
Rookie goalie Arturs Silovs to start for Canucks in Game 1 vs. Oilers
Rookie goalie Arturs Silovs will start in net for the Canucks as Vancouver kicks off a second-round series against the Edmonton Oilers Wednesday night.
OPINION What King Charles' schedule being too 'full' to accommodate son suggests
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has made headlines with his recent arrival in the U.K., this time to celebrate all things Invictus. But upon the prince landing in the U.K., we have already had confirmation that King Charles III won't have time to see his youngest son during his brief visit.