OPINION: Still No Solutions to Homeless Crisis

One hour discussion of empty words leads to no options for the unhoused.

Last night West Nipissing Council had another discussion on the homelessness crisis in our city.

I don’t want to sound dramatic but this hour-long discussion at the beginning of yesterday’s meeting was painful to watch. Council only offered criticism (not praise) for our grassroots organizations. They offered absolutely no solutions and nit picked at a resolution they had on their desk for two weeks but appeared to wait until the last minute to actually read.

First the CAO led the discussion again and said that DSSAB had a plan in the works to address West Nipissing encampment problem but he did not want to share the details and create “unnecessary concerns”. One can only assume, this group will shortly be forcibly evicted and forced to create another encampment in the city.

Then each councillor took the time to express concern for the problem while stating there wasn’t much that could be done. Mayor Thorne-Rochon and Deputy Mayor Restoule kept reiterating that the goal needs to be to bring the unhoused individuals to North Bay (against their will).

Councillor Fern Pellerin seemed to be the only one wanting to discuss long-term solutions when he pressed council and the CAO to advocate for more services locally (as opposed diverting our residents to North Bay). Pellerin noted that our municipality pays over $3M to DSSAB and asked do we get our fair share? He asked the CAO if there are any agencies funded by DSSAB addressing homelessness based in West Nipissing. The answer was no. Although some DSSAB funds many organizations attempting to address this problem, they are all based out of North Bay. The mayor pointed out that even if they are based out of North Bay, they can service WN. She said “I’m not sure if we get our share or not. It doesn’t matter.”

Council accepted a petition with over 200 signatures last night asking that a warming centre be established in the region. Councillor Anne Tessier, who is an active volunteer with No More Tears, also presented a motion that asked council to form a committee on the issue and for council to direct bylaw officers to put a hold on all evictions of homeless people on municipal property until a solution was found.

This part of the meeting became increasingly frustrating as councillor after councillor criticized the wording of the motion which they could have done in the two weeks prior but waiting until last night to notice it.

Councillor Katelyn Nicol, took a very rare break from her silence on this council to downplay the homeless problem and accuse Tessier of lying. She told council that Tessier may have stated incorrect facts when she stated that homeless shelters were full. Nicol’s proof? She had called a homeless shelter earlier that day and they said they had room on that particular day. Nicol went on to admit that availability fluctuates on a daily basis. As most people know, homeless shelters are typically not at capacity in the morning but quickly fill up every evening.

The homeless shelters in North Bay have no room. That is not a disputable fact. Earlier this year, they were full already and North Bay has seen an explosion in homeless numbers this year as well. Maybe Nicol’s plan is to simply buy them alarm clocks and get them to go wait in line earlier to get a spot before they fill up on daily basis.

After almost an hour of discussion last night, council did not propose a single solution. There was no indication that pressure would be put on DSSAB in order to get them to set up a warming centre locally. And even the simple idea of forming a sub committee to address this crisis was voted down.

I don’t want to convince any member of the community to support a warming centre or the idea of busing homeless people out of town. I don’t want to convince council of any single solution to this problem. I simply want them to have a real conversation which they just keep avoiding.

Instead they waste time nit picking Councillor Anne Tessier and accuse her of lying. While this councillor spends her evenings and weekends on the ground speaking to and helping the homeless. A role she does not get paid for.

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