Frustrated residents showed up in droves, stifling strong emotions to share experiences they say have left them feeling unsafe and unprotected.
For two hours last night (June 15), residents waited their turn to talk to Timmins council members — who were all in attendance except Ward 4 Coun. John Curley — and Timmins Police Service board reps about what they're seeing in the city.
Business owners, non-profit organizations, parents and more were among those sharing their concerns at the community safety town hall organized by the City of Timmins.
Many of the stories shared similar themes of businesses and homes being broken into, people feeling unsafe, property standards and calls for the emergency shelter to be moved out of a residential area.
About 1,200 people were at the McIntyre arena in person for the event, which was also streamed live online. While the video has now been watched over 11,000 times, the peak number of viewers during the event was just under 2,400.
With people in the audience advocating for her to speak, 18-year-old Phoenix Blain took the mic after the official feedback session. Crying, she talked about how a large majority of people her age don't want to move back to Timmins.
“And we ask ourselves why. I am scared to go to the movie theatre, I am scared to walk to school, I’m scared to walk to work. People are breaking into our homes, our garages. People are crawling under our trucks to steal pieces of it to sell," said Blain.
"Your next generation, your next mayor, your next miner, your next construction worker, your next lawyer — is not coming back to Timmins. I do not want to raise children in a city where I do not feel safe. We really do need to make it safe because there’s no Timmins without a next generation,” she said to applause from the audience.
Melissa Kelly owns a dance studio and home on Cedar Street South, across from Cinema 6.
In May, she said her family woke up to a disaster after someone broke in while they were sleeping. While she's had break-ins in the past, she said it was nothing like what they experienced last month.
“The feeling of violation, paranoia, fear has left us with no words. We sleep with a bat at the end of our bed,” she told the crowd.
Not being an essential service, she was forced to shut down for COVID-19 restrictions and says she's still trying to keep her head above water. Now, she's also paying for additional security measures to keep her home and dance studio safe.
“That requires money, money my business does not have at this point in time,” she said.
“I truly feel if the City of Timmins continues to want to support Living Space and to support these safe injection sites, they should definitely be supporting the blood, sweat and tears of businesses who contribute,” she said to applause and cheers.
A staff member from St. Mary's Gardens talked about her concern for the seniors.
During the day, she said residents at the seniors' residence who are outside enjoying the sun are approached for money, sworn at and called names.
She also asked about what's being done about landlords not maintaining their properties.
Timmins Mayor Michelle Boileau encourages anybody who sees a property that's not up to standard to report it to Service Timmins.
The town hall is a result of growing frustrations in the community and the Move Living Space Facebook group that was recently started.
SEE: Community safety at centre of protest, town hall
Living Space is a hub dedicated to ending homelessness in the city. It originally opened in 2018 on Cedar Street North, across from city hall, where Safe Health Site Timmins is now located.
In the spring of 2021, the organization announced its move to a new location on Spruce Street South.
Because the building was already zoned to allow for the shelter, the decision didn't have to go to Timmins council for approval.
One of the questions raised at the town hall was whether or not a city bylaw can regulate where emergency shelters can go.
“There is the possibility of restricting the kind of operations or businesses within certain zones. That being said, I can’t tell you right now, this is something that I would have to get legal advice on. Considering that housing is a human right — I don’t know if emergency shelter is one of those things we could actually legislate by bylaw," said Boileau, adding that council is making trauma-informed decisions.
Raising three daughters, Natasha Chartrand talked at the meeting to advocate for her three daughters.
“Recently we had two bail bed houses move in right beside us,” she said, explaining that it's a place where people accused of criminal offences live under supervision while awaiting trial.
“I have one job in my life as a mother and that is to keep my kids safe. I am failing. My kids are not safe, they’re not,” said Chartrand.
While she believes programs being offered are necessary, she said they aren't necessary in a residential area. She suggested looking at Highway 655 or another area where people choosing to get help can access it.
'Really important points raised'
Boileau had already heard some of the stories residents shared.
“I wasn’t surprised by some of the testimony that was shared, I’d say more I was heartbroken by a lot of what I heard. The frequency at which this kind of crime is happening, property crime is happening, break and enterings are happening while people are home. It’s heartbreaking, it’s completely unsettling and I acknowledge it’s not OK and this is exactly what we’re trying to work to rectify here,” she said after the meeting.
The meeting, she said, was a chance to hear from people. She's not promising answers tomorrow, but said the city has "a lot of thinking to do".
"There are a lot of really important points that were raised. I think some of the work that we’re already doing was validated in what we heard tonight. And then obviously there are still shortfalls, there are still gaps in our systems that we need to be trying to address," she said.
A report of the meeting will be made and will help when the city lobbies to the provincial and federal government to find answers to some of the issues raised by residents.
Lobbying takes time, though.
Suggesting to people what they can do to feel safer now, she said, is tough.
"I hate to say this, but, there’s a shared responsibility that we have to always be aware of our surroundings, that we have to take whatever measures we can to protect our property, to protect ourselves. But I know that that’s not enough," said Boileau.
One of the main questions people continue to have is if the Living Space could be moved out of a residential area.
“I wouldn’t say it’s an impossibility. It can be a possibility. But these kind of decisions are being made based on evidence. Studies show that when you move a shelter away from the core of where the shelter's users are and you bring them further out of town, the people who were previously using the shelter stop accessing it, they stop going. We’re looking at those kinds of studies, we’re looking at that kind of evidence when these kinds of decisions are made,” she said.
The city is planning town halls in every ward in the fall.
People who want to share their concerns can email council members or request a meeting at any time.
The mayor's email is [email protected]. The contact information for ward councillors is available here.
Watch the full video of the town hall below:
