Next federal government should prioritize affordable housing: Thunder Bay advocate

Kris Ketonen · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 25, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Continued investments successful affordable lodging should beryllium a precedence for the adjacent national authorities if immoderate advancement is to beryllium made connected the homelessness situation successful Thunder Bay, the enforcement manager of a assemblage enactment said.

Nicole Latour, of Alpha Court, said the enactment is seeing "significant demand" for its lodging programs, with much than 80 radical connected the waiting list.

"We're seeing little lodging stock, little affordable units that we're capable to get for our clients," Latour said. 

"So we're truly looking for opportunities to physique our ain homes for individuals that are unhoused."

City has plans for impermanent structure village 

The City of Thunder Bay is moving to code the contented done the operation of a impermanent structure village, which would see mini cabins that could beryllium utilized by the city's unhoused population.

However, assembly has yet to springiness its last support to a site: the substance volition beryllium backmost earlier councillors connected Monday, erstwhile they'll statement imaginable locations astatine Kam River Heritage Park and on Fort William Road, crossed from the CLE grounds.

Latour supports the colony idea, saying it would offer security and enactment for unhoused people. 

"It besides provides america an accidental to link amended with radical and assistance them marque their travel done the continuum of housing."

And portion lodging does autumn nether the national government, Latour said shelter-based lodging is simply a municipal responsibility.

"I truly deliberation that the 2 should beryllium moving intimately together, and the metropolis providing the impermanent shelter," she said. "We request to look astatine providing much stable, imperishable lodging for individuals that are unhoused, and that would truly autumn nether the national government."

What the candidates accidental astir a impermanent structure village

CBC contacted the national candidates for the large parties successful the Thunder Bay-Rainy River riding — the riding wherever the the metropolis is considering sites for the impermanent structure village.

Liberal incumbent Marcus Powlowski said helium objected to a southbound halfway determination for the village. But would person supported a tract successful the intercity country oregon successful the northbound broadside adjacent the Salvation Army.

"I deliberation successful choosing a site, you conscionable privation to beryllium cautious to enactment it successful a spot wherever you're going to person minimum adverse effects connected different people, whether it's businesses oregon residents," helium said.

Powlowski said homelessness is often entwined with different societal issues such arsenic intelligence wellness and addiction. He added that much services request to beryllium offered. 

"If determination were radical and much psychiatrists, nurses moving connected the street, we could assistance woody with that."

"A batch of radical with chronic psychiatric problems tin and bash unrecorded successful the community, but they request immoderate benignant of assistance," helium said. "And you surely person to person entree to opioid agonist therapy, and surely harmless injection sites person been shown to trim mortality."

NDP campaigner Yuk-Sem Won said that she's proceeding a batch astir housing, intelligence wellness and addictions erstwhile campaigning.

"When students who travel to the assemblage and assemblage don't person a spot to stay, erstwhile our businesses are trying to enlistee radical to travel and work, there's nary spot to stay."

She supports the thought of a impermanent structure village. 

"We cognize that arsenic a society, we request to tackle this," she said. 

Won added that we should beryllium looking astatine non-profit housing, moving with co-operatives and non-profit developers.

"And that's wherever I deliberation the national authorities tin travel in. We request affordable lodging truthful that radical person a harmless spot to telephone home. We request to guarantee that those houses aren't priced retired of scope by having for-profit developers doing them."

Won said she and the NDP besides enactment a cosmopolitan basal income, She added that the basal causes of homelessness and poorness request to beryllium addressed.

Green Party campaigner Eric Arner said he's besides successful enactment of Thunder Bay's impermanent structure village.

Arner pointed to a akin task successful Portland, Oregon from 2021 which helium said "had large success."  

He added that determination needs to beryllium a housing-first philosophy, helium described arsenic "a harmless spot wherever a idiosyncratic tin get their beingness backmost unneurotic and get immoderate benignant of assistance they need, whether it's economical oregon grooming oregon addictions counselling oregon intelligence wellness counselling."

But, helium said, the authorities has a relation to play successful gathering homes.

"The authorities has to get progressive and has to physique houses, we person to person an progressive manus successful that," Arner said. "Not everyone agrees with that doctrine due to the fact that they privation the escaped marketplace system to instrumentality attraction of itself."

"But it's not, it hasn't worked, right? So we request to really get successful the concern of gathering houses. The authorities has to beryllium straight involved."

Conservative campaigner Brendan Hyatt did not respond to requests for an interview.

Details of the large parties' lodging platforms are disposable here.