Sioux Lookout Mayor Doug Lawrance/YouTube Screenshot
A recent increase in large pop-up camps in Sioux Lookout has caught the attention of police and elected officials.
One recent camp in the downtown core resulted in increased police presence due to reports of harassment, theft, threats to public safety, assaults and bullying.
Mayor Doug Lawrance says these type of camps have existed for decades but the government fails to provide assistance.
“Advocating for years for a larger, full-service Emergency Shelter, Drop-in Centre for detox, for addictions treatment, for more supportive housing, different forms.”
Lawrance says they were successful in securing a 20 unit supportive housing project but stresses that’s a drop in the bucket for their needs.
A frustrated Lawrance stresses, “I have a tabulized summary of meetings with multiple Ministers, with multi-Minster’s, with Premiers, and we provide the facts. We provide the facts of the need here, and the lack of services, and the complete point and there has been complete inaction to date.”
He notes the problem isn’t going away soon.
“People will continue to come here from the Indigenous communities, the First Nations to the north, because of looking for service, for retail, looking for health care, education, and looking for housing and other such things that are not available in their communities.”
