THUNDER BAY — An unexpected pivot from Miles Street to Hillyard as the location for the city's temporary shelter village provoked strongly-worded objections from several councillors on Monday, including some who ultimately voted in favour of the new site.
A lack of public input into the site or time for full discussion at the committee level were the main issues raised at the meeting.
After ratification of 114 Miles St. East as the shelter village site failed in a 7-6 vote, council voted 9-4 in support of the Hillyard site.
The Hillyard lands are located on 8th Avenue, off Central Avenue in the Intercity area. However, Newswatch has learned that the temporary shelter village will actually be located in what is now a treed lot at 879 Alloy Pl., between the municipal bylaw office and the Carrick Street off-leash dog park. The site was included in city staff's report on potential sites with a rating of 78 per cent.
Coun. Mark Bentz put forward the Hillyard site after Miles Street was voted down, calling it a "compromise," because it ranked high among possible locations, despite ranking lower than Miles Street, which scored an 87 per cent.
Days before the meeting, Bentz told Newswatch he was concerned about "rushing through" the process in a way that doesn't favour "public consultation or good planning.”
Coun. Shelby Ch'ng described Bentz's motion as causing “whiplash” around the council chambers.
“Talk about moving too fast. I mean that logic, my neck hurts because of the whiplash on this."
Coun. Brian Hamilton said he expects “a massive deficit of public trust over this decision, over this whole process.”
Hamilton voted against the Hillyard site, saying council was “just doing it for the sake of doing it. We have no real chance to have the public chime in.”
Coun. Greg Johnsen echoed Hamilton's comment on public trust, stating that “democracy is about unpacking things to residents.”
“I have serious concerns about waking up tomorrow and answering phone calls or emails and trying to explain my vote for this site in this area because it just simply wasn't unpacked for residents,” said Johnsen, who also voted against the motion.
"There's no one around this table talking about what the service providers wanted. The service providers haven't had input on this site. They specifically wanted Miles Street and needed Miles Street to service the people,” Ch’ng said.
City staff said they had received at least 24 letters of support for the Miles Street location from organizations across the city, including the Thunder Bay Police Service, the Thunder Bay District Health Unit, several local service providers and charities, mental health and healthcare agencies and Indigenous organizations.
The city did not consult these organizations about the Hillyard site, according to the report to council.
Bentz called the lack of service provider feedback a “downside,” but said, “I guess we're gonna get them now.”
After months consulting in the downtown south core, Coun. Kasey Etreni said she wanted time to consult near the Hillyard site as well.
“We need community input here, and that's what I was elected for, to make sure I got community input to make my decisions at this table,” Etreni said.
She suggested referring the issue to a later date, to allow administration to come back with more information and to allow the public a chance to speak on the lands at the committee level.
But, before doing so, Etreni asked what risks there might be if the site decision was delayed.
“We are literally out of time for a number of different reasons,” city manager John Collin said.
“The provincial funding is one of them, but it's only one of them. Having a site operational for next winter is another consideration. We have RFPs that we have unopened at this point because we're still waiting for site selection. We put the entire procurement processes at risk as well," Collin said. "There is no more time.”
However, if administration finds any major barriers — including significant new objections from the public — he said the motion gives staff the authority to come back to council for further direction.
"But, for us to receive a referral, which of course we can do, I think it very much puts the entirety of the project at risk and certainly the funding for the project at risk as well,” Collin said.
Despite their objections, both Ch'ng and Etreni ultimately supported the motion, each saying they felt "backed into a corner."
