THUNDER BAY – At Monday's meeting council chose to maintain the five-metre distance from encampments that was recommended by administration.
This includes not having encampments within five metres of any trail, sidewalk, parking lot, or bridge, including pedestrian access points to those areas and structures.
All councillors voted in favour of keeping the five-metre distance except Coun. Dominic Pasqualino and Coun. Albert Aiello.
Administration stated in its report that increasing the distance to 10 metres may have the unintended consequence of pushing encampments further into public spaces. This shift could also lead to increased conflicts between encampment residents and non-encampment residents.
After the meeting, Rilee Willianen, a policy and research analyst with the city, said there are a couple of issues they considered.
“One of those things being that if you remove the distance from sidewalks and trails and you increase it, you run the risk of two potential scenarios happening.
“One is that people will move into more open green spaces which tend to be in residential areas, or people will go into more bushy areas and that's a concern for emergency services access.
“In both of those scenarios, you're pushing folks away from the supports and services that they need.”
The report said increasing the distance to 10 metres would push encampments further from vital services such as health care, food distribution, and social services. Increasing the distance to 10 metres could also complicate emergency services’ access to encampments.
“Ensuring a reasonable proximity is crucial for efficient and effective response times, directly impacting the safety and wellbeing of individuals living in encampments,” the report said.
Coun. Trevor Giertuga received council’s support for a referral to explore increasing the guideline from five metres to 10 metres at the July 15 meeting. In an interview after the meeting, he said he will continue to keep an eye on this matter.
“We've heard there might be some concern with emergency services and access. I have assurances from the senior manager that this is something that will be up for ongoing review and it's something I can bring up again if we find that that it's becoming an issue.
“I'm not prepared to wait that long. Especially for the people in certain areas,” he said.
Some people have been dealing with this issue for three or four years, he said.
“We've been trying to find a resolution for everyone that's going to be beneficial.”
Giertuga said designated sites are something they need to investigate.
“Things can be regulated a lot better. You can have showers, you can have food, shelter.
“We can't just have people pulling up shop anywhere, right?”
Giertuga said they need help from the provincial and federal governments.
“Housing isn't a Thunder Bay issue. It's a provincial issue.”
