THUNDER BAY — Patty Hajdu says she will “fight like hell” to make sure Thunder Bay gets its share of federal funding, if available, to address homelessness in the city.
Hajdu, MP for Thunder Bay-Superior North and minister of Indigenous Services, said she’s encouraged by the City of Thunder Bay’s plan for a temporary shelter village.
There are two proposed sites – one at Kam River Heritage Park and the other at 114 Miles St. The city approved a budget of up to $5 million to construct and another $1.5 million to operate.
In an open letter issued Friday, Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP Marcus Powlowski said the current proposal for the village is unfair to residents and businesses in the south core and he cannot support it at either of those south-end locations. He suggested establishing the village on unused land in the intercity area.
Hajdu didn’t comment on Powlowski’s letter but congratulated the City of Thunder Bay for looking at the continuum of housing from sheltering to independent living in affordable units.
“They’re looking at trying to fill out that entire continuum of housing from the sort of social disorder that we see on the streets all the way to supporting people with affordable housing and this approach in their mind is part of that continuum to help people recover,” she said.
As a former executive director of Shelter House Thunder Bay, Hajdu said she knows social disorder is distressing for residents of the south core.
“And indeed, it’s distressing for the people who are experiencing deep homelessness,” she said, adding that looking at the issue from a perspective of safety, the city’s plan is “exactly the kind of ambition we need.”
“For many years as the operator of the Thunder Bay emergency shelter, we struggled with how we could better support the community to achieve its goals of safe communities for residents and safe communities for people experiencing homelessness,” said Hajdu. “It seems to me that the city is doing exactly that work and it's well overdue and I'm very thrilled to see it happen.”
“I have confidence in the City of Thunder Bay to do the important work of being able to figure out how best to do this to meet the many different and diverse needs of its citizens,” Hajdu added. “It’s my job as a Member of Parliament to advocate for this community and to trust the officials that are working on this plan.”
“(The city) has a number of sites they're looking at and deliberating on and my job is to make sure that if there's money available federally, I fight like hell to make sure that is successful,” she said.
