Tensions mount over proposed temporary village in Thunder Bay, Ont., ahead of council vote

As city council prepares to vote on a temporary shelter village for people experiencing homelessness in Thunder Bay, Ont., opposition is growing among the area's business community.

The city is recommending council vote in favour of a site at 114 Miles St. E. for the project, which would include up to 80 temporary units in what's been described as a sleeping cabin model.

The village is intended as a stop-gap measure to help people transition from emergency shelters and encampments into long-term housing, Rilee Willianen, the city's drug strategy specialist and encampment response plan lead, said during a news conference Friday.

Other Ontario communities have seen success with this model. They include Kitchener's A Better Tent City and Peterborough's Modular Bridge Housing Community. In Vancouver, there's a similar concept known as modular supportive housing.

At least 550 people are experiencing homelessness in Thunder Bay, according to a 24-hour point-in-time count of the city's unhoused population last month.

"We absolutely agree that housing for all, long-term solutions are the ultimate goal, the ultimate solution. We also know that we have an immediate crisis at hand, and that immediate crisis requires a different response," Willianen said.

"Those responses to the long-term housing solutions and the encampment solutions are not mutually exclusive. They exist together as a system, and this is just one part of getting us towards getting people into that long-term stable housing."

For the village, the city has earmarked construction and infrastructure costs at $5 million and operating costs at $1.5 million annually. Council is expected to vote on whether it approves the project during Monday night's meeting.

But members of the Fort William Business Improvement Area (FWBIA) say the village will have an adverse impact on the community and it comes at too high a cost.

"If we're going to have solutions, let's have long-term solutions. Let's do things that are going to take care of the people," said Aldo Ruberto, a former city councillor and current chair of the FWBIA. "If you want to spend money, spend it on addiction centres, spend it on counselling."

Site close to existing services, infrastructure

The city gathered feedback on the village's location through a survey from Oct. 24 until Nov. 4 that focused on whether the project should be built at the Miles Street location or at Kam River Heritage Park, where dozens of people are staying in tents. 

Of 700 respondents, 68 per cent of people voted in favour of the Miles Street location, which is near a number of social services, such as the Thunder Bay Food Bank, Shelter House, People Advocating for Change Through Empowerment (PACE), Grace Place and NorWest Community Health Centres.

If approved, the goal is to have the village ready by the end of April.

"We see an alarming spike in the number of people that are living unsheltered after that April month is over, so to start to build relationships with people who we know are going to end up living on the streets unless we do something, it's important for us to start that work in advance," Willianen said.

Ruberto argues the project is a waste of resources, considering a number of transitional housing units are under construction.

"We believe it is preferable to maintain the status quo, especially given the confirmation that permanent transitional housing will be developed within the next 12 to 24 months," the FWBIA said in a statement Thursday.

Ruberto added that the social service organizations in the area are doing important work as it is, and said the city should "leave it to the experts" on the front lines of the crisis.

The city says it will give $40,000 to the FWBIA to help address its concerns related to security and neighbourhood cleanup needs.

"It's not worth us taking $40,000 when this could be financially impacting on the whole area for years to come," said FWBIA vice chair Tony Di Paolo. "This could be a permanent temporary solution and not go away. They don't have an exit strategy."

The city has confirmed its intention is to shut the village down within three to five years of its opening.

'There's consequences for choices'

Earlier this month, the Thunder Bay District Social Services Administration Board (TBDSSAB) announced funding for 40 additional emergency shelter spaces over the winter across Shelter House, Grace Place and Urban Abbey, bringing the total to 188 emergency spaces during the colder months.

The additional spaces were prompted by the high number of people already using the Out of the Cold Program at Grace Place, which serves as the overflow shelter location when people have nowhere else to go.

Ruberto said it's up to the unhoused population to access these services.

"How are we gonna help you when we have this shelter there, we have the services there, and you don't want to go in? That's your choice. And you know what? There's consequences for choices," he said.

"If we continue to say it's OK to continue your addictions, continue doing your things, we're risking losing that person."

Thunder Bay is losing its only supervised consumption site, Path 525, at the end of March, due to new provincial rules around sites' proximity to schools and childcare centres.

Instead, the province is promoting a new model known as Homelessness and Addictions Recovery Treatment (HART) hubs. These will offer wraparound supports but not allow supervised drug consumption, needle exchange programs or drug testing.

Ruberto said he'd support a HART hub opening in the neighbourhood.

"I think that's a better use of dollars, is trying to help people get off addiction."

Opposition from federal MP

In an op-ed submitted to TBNewswatch on Nov. 15, Thunder Bay—Rainy River MP Marcus Powlowski said he's opposed to the village project.

"I would say it is patently unfair for the government to ask the owners of businesses and homes in the downtown south core to bear the costs of the homelessness crisis," Powlowski wrote.

When asked whether the MP's views could impact potential federal funding, Willianen said the city is confident that "support from the federal government will still come through."

"We know that this issue brings a lot of opinions. We know that some of those opinions are different, and we also know that our recommendation is such that it is because it is based on evidence." 

If city council votes against the temporary shelter village, it could still opt to pursue the project at an alternative site, though Willianen said the Miles Street location is the most cost-effective option.