THUNDER BAY – The city will be moving forward with a plan that should see a temporary shelter village building in the city's south end by next summer.
At Monday's meeting, city council ratified its human rights-based community action plan and temporary village initiative.
The human rights-based community action plan was passed easily in an 11 to two vote.
The temporary village initiative ratification was another story. It was ratified in a much closer vote, seven to five.
Coun’s. Mark Bentz, Rajni Agarwal, Trevor Giertuga, Albert Aiello, and Mayor Ken Boshcoff voted against the temporary village initiative.
Boshcoff said his vote was determined by administration's ability to answer whether the homeless individuals that would be housed there were primary residents of Thunder Bay or a transient population from the district.
Cynthia Olsen, director of strategy and engagement said administration could not provide him with an answer, but said city staff "will be committed to prioritizing individuals most at risk for access into the temporary village.”
Coun. Brian Hamilton voted for both projects to be ratified.
He stated, “I think this is the way to do it. I think this is the approach that is going with the plan. I've actually had talks with people in government very recently. And, they prefer an approach where there's actually a plan in motion that's shovel ready.”
Two proposed sites for the temporary village are Kam River Heritage Park off Syndicate Avenue which would provide space for 100 units and 114 Miles St. East which could accommodate up to 80 units.
Coun. Trevor Giertuga and Mayor Ken Boshcoff oposed the ratification of the human rights-based community action plan, which originally passed with unianimous support.
“It’s simple math,” said Giertuga. Who was not present for the original vote.
“We have 200 homeless and we're proposing up to 100. We're still not going to be able to force people into designated sites because we won't have the 200 bed capacity. It's math, simple, right?” said Giertuga.
“200 homeless and we're going up to 100. So, we're still gonna have people on Mcvicar Creek. We're gonna have people all over the place. And, I'm not convinced this is a solution without additional funding from other levels of government or other funders,” Giertuga continued.
The human rights-based action plan, including the temporary village initiative, has an infrastructure and construction budget cap of $5 million, from the Renew Thunder Bay Reserve Fund, and a tax-supported operating budget of $1.5 million.
