THUNDER BAY — Following two high-profile incidents of violence in the same week at DSSAB-owned apartment buildings, the chair of the District of Thunder Bay Social Services Administration Board wants to reassure the public that they are actively looking for ways to improve safety in for residents.
Board chair Brian Hamilton said the DSSAB is heading to the Rural Ontario Municipal Association on Monday to make a serious and "vigorous" ask for aid following these incidents.
A homicide on Tuesday and a weapons incident early Friday both took place at DSSAB apartment buildings.
"A number of the residents that we would like to remove are being disruptive. We can't get people out because the (Landlord Tenant Board) caseload is too much," said Hamilton.
The DDSAB has asked provincial ministries for years to make changes at the Landlord and Tenant Board to properly secure buildings, he said.
"The attorney general has assured us (last year) that some changes are happening there," said Hamilton. "We are working on that, but sometimes it's taking months to get people out of housing, people that either need support or are creating disruption for all the other residents."
He said all it takes is one or two bad tenants to really stigmatize a building and create a real or a perceived lack of safety for residents.
"We really don't want to stigmatize, because even in a challenging building 99 per cent of the residents are doing the right thing. They're great neighbours, they're minding their own business and they've been excellent tenants," said Hamilton.
"But there is that segment of the society again that require supports and they need to be in a social or transitional environment. For now, they're in social housing and maybe lacking the agency to protect themselves from exploitation from outside sources like gangs."
Police have not indicated at this time whether they suspect either of the recent incidents was gang-related, both investigations are ongoing.
In the meantime, Hamilton said the DSSAB has numerous initiatives on the go to mediate some of these issues.
"The new strategic plan of the DSSAB board, starting in 2022, really amplified a lot of the security presence and a lot of our units, but I think most importantly is we are advocating strongly to make sure that we have residents that are supported where they live because people are all too easily exploited in these situations," said Hamilton.
Even with security measures enhanced over the last couple of years, he said, there's no mechanism to 100 per cent guarantee safety, especially when fortifying against residents eager to exploit others' situations.
These security concerns are not unique to social housing, said Hamilton, but are true for many buildings across Thunder Bay and across elsewhere in Ontario.
Hamilton said the DSSAB is seeking a province-wide strategy for supportive housing.
"People are highly migratory. We don't just need a Thunder Bay model. We ultimately need a province-wide model that could be adopted. Someone who could be here and needs supports could have been in Kenora several weeks ago... or at any municipality across the North," said Hamilton.
He said DSSAB needs help from the ministries and cannot do this alone.
"Every time we have an incident like this, it only amplifies our message and enables us to bring that message a little bit stronger," said Hamilton.
