The request is clear – West Nipissing bylaw will not evict homeless people from municipal property. At least not until a warming centre is established. Councillor Anne Tessier outlined the demand in a motion to West Nipissing council, which will discuss the issue at tonight’s meeting.
Homelessness has been on council’s agenda lately as more people are starting to live on the streets in Sturgeon Falls. Mainly, these small tent cities spring up in empty parking lots. Municipal bylaw cleared a site the other week on Coursol Road due to trespassing complaints.
No More Tears, a local grassroots collective, is advocating for the homeless in Sturgeon Falls and the area. Group members also provide food and supplies and check in to see how people are holding up. The group estimates that recently, the number of people living without a roof hovers around the low to mid-20s.
See: Cold winter coming for Sturgeon Falls’ homeless
Council has discussed the issue, but there is only so much that can be done with limited resources. West Nipissing’s Chief Administrative Officer, Jay Barbeau, emphasized that the situation “can’t carry on this way, we have to find a solution.”
See: West Nipissing council address homelessness in region
Perhaps Tessier’s motion will be part of that solution. Her motion justifies the request to stop removing temporary shelters – tents in parking lots – by noting the town has no shelter or access to a warming centre.
Her motion notes that No More Tears is doing what it can and is working with Our Lady of Sorrows Church to provide a soup kitchen. The group is aware that a shelter does not materialize overnight. In the meantime, the motion wants council to establish a committee to “ensure encampments are not removed by force until an alternative solution is established.”
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
