Timmins council to lease site for new encampment location in rural and unserviced area

Aya Dufour · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 19, 2025 7:17 AM EDT | Last Updated: 24 minutes ago

Timmins metropolis assembly has chosen 1 of its agrarian properties connected Pine St. South to go the tract of a imaginable encampment relocation task championed by the Cochrane District Services Board (CDSSAB).

The CDSSAB needed the metropolis to prime a determination earlier March 21 truthful it could entree $3.2-million successful backing from the province's encampment effect inaugural fund. 

It plans to usage the tract to physique modular units, akin to those utilized successful mining camps, to make up to 40 impermanent exigency shelters.

Timmins metropolis assembly inactive needs to reappraisal the program for the tract earlier it officially leases the spot to the CDSSAB.

There are presently astir 400 radical experiencing homelessness successful the Cochrane district, according to a caller informal number successful Timmins and different communities. 

Encampments and nationalist cause usage person go heated discussions successful the city, with 1 nationalist gathering connected the contented needing to determination to the section arena to accommodate a bigger crowd.

Timmins' main administrative officer, Dave Landers, says immoderate 3,500 residents offered input during nationalist consultations connected wherever this inaugural should beryllium located.

"I judge this was a just and nationalist process," helium said. "I don't cognize that we've ever seen that level of effect to thing we whitethorn person done, abbreviated of selling performance tickets." 

Pine St. South was identified arsenic the preferred determination during nationalist consultations due to the fact that it is located acold distant from residences and businesses, astatine astir an hour's locomotion distant from the downtown core.

Some members of the nationalist did explicit concerns astir the site, specified arsenic the deficiency of entree to services similar policing and intelligence health, successful summation to a deficiency of adjacent nutrient sources oregon thoroughfare lights. The odor from the adjacent landfill was besides identified arsenic a imaginable issue.

The different locations proposed, similar the ones connected Highway 655 and Spruce St., were deemed excessively adjacent to residential areas.

Coun. Cory Robin said helium work each the nationalist input and asked his chap assembly members to prime Hwy 655 alternatively of Pine St, but his question was defeated.

"Half of the respondents privation america to bash thing oregon enactment it arsenic acold distant arsenic possible," helium said. "Pine St. has problems with safety, lighting, food. It's a desert."

Details astir transportation, hydro and h2o to beryllium sorted later

Coun. John Curley likened the Pine St. South determination to a "gravel pit" that was "never made for thing to beryllium done down there" and expressed concerns astir the metropolis needing to put to physique infrastructure there.

Landers says it's not wide however transportation, hydro and h2o systems could beryllium deployed to the tract astatine this time, and these details are to beryllium included successful the CDSSAB's upcoming plan.

Coun. Kristin Murray said the determination statement "consumed each of our attention… but encampment effect is 1 portion of a bigger puzzle that has to beryllium enactment unneurotic arsenic a community." 

Jason Serada of DIY Community Health told CBC's Up North that the results of the nationalist surveys factored successful excessively overmuch successful this decision, and the needs of unhoused radical were enactment connected the backmost burner. 

"It's important that we prosecute the nationalist and person transparency, but it's unsafe erstwhile we basal nationalist argumentation connected the opinions of a fewer alternatively than evidence," helium said.