Thunder Bay city council votes down Miles Street temporary village, requests a look into other sites

A proposed temporary shelter village on Thunder Bay, Ont.'s south side will not be going forward.

At Monday's meeting, city council voted against constructing the village at a recommended location on Miles Street East, instead directing city administration to look into other possible sites.

Council had previously approved the building of a temporary village, which would include up to 80 units for use by people experiencing homelessness, contingent on the approval of a site.

The site was one of two the city had been examining as a possible location for the village; the other was at Kam River Heritage Park.

However, the city recommended the Miles Street East location for a number of reasons, including its size, proximity to essential services, readiness for construction, safety, and "alignment with ongoing municipal growth and revitalization goals."

Administration has said the village would cost about $4 million if constructed on Miles Street East.

McKellar Ward Coun. Brian Hamilton, who voted against the resolution, said Tuesday morning that the issue is a "tough" one.

"We really have to be mindful of the safety of everyone," he said. "That includes business owners, but that also includes residents, and that also includes the people that might ... be volatile in the community as well.

"When people are out, and potentially unhoused, does the trauma cause the homelessness, or does the homelessness cause the trauma?" Hamilton said. "One thing that we, that certainly that I, recognize in the neighbourhood is that people will do a lot better when they're cared for, and a lot of the organizations in the area recognize that.

"They're building up their capacity to support people where they are."

Hamilton, whose ward includes the recommended location, said he initially supported the Miles Street East site because it's close to needed services.

However, he said the project "could have been scaled back a little bit, to kind of deal with some of the concerns of the businesses, and then hopefully scale up as we see success with that program."

Hamilton said he's spoken to people experiencing homelessness and they were in support of the village.

"But again, almost every one of them had a solution for where they were going to go in the winter, whether they're going to go back to their home community, or if they're going to go back and couch surfer stay with family," he said. "But that didn't really necessarily move them forward on their career paths or in their life to kind of jettison them up to some of their goals and their aspirations.

"A program like a supportive housing situation, even a really low-barrier like the one that we were proposing, does wonders that actually moving people along the spectrum of wellness."

Hamilton said the city may be better off looking for a longer-term approach to the issue.

"This a demonstrable service gap and it would be really difficult to one day to take that away. There's no other operator that's offering a service like that.

"You don't want to provide something and then take away. That, in and of itself, can be quite traumatizing."

He said he thinks the "long-term approach might be the way to go."