Timmins is on Pierre Poilievre's radar.
With community safety high on local residents' radar, the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada is sharing his solutions for issues affecting Timmins and communities across Canada. His comments are in the wake of a town hall held over a week ago at the McIntyre arena that saw thousands of frustrated residents show up to share their concerns with Timmins council and members of the Timmins Police Services board.
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Timmins-James Bay MP Charlie Angus says Poilievre is using the city's issues as a reason to get "rage farming" going.
"And I think there’s a real problem with that because what we need to do is talk about what is working and where do we need to go," said Angus.
Watching the town hall meeting, Phoenix Blain stood out to Poilievre.
The teenager was one of the last people to take the mic that night, making an emotional plea after the official question and answer period had ended. Crying, she talked about how a large majority of people her age don't want to move back to Timmins because they don't feel safe.
"And this is unacceptable," Poilievre told TimminsToday.
"It is unacceptable that people in Timmins should be afraid to live in their hometown. Small businesses, seniors, families deserve to feel safe. And that is why I chose to speak out on this and also to offer some of my solutions."
Poilievre's message to Timmins is that life doesn't have to be this way.
"People of Timmins work hard, they follow the law, they don’t deserve to live like this. And life wasn’t always like this. Remember, eight or nine years ago it was a lot safer in Canada. It just shows if the government reverses the mistakes it has made and moves forward with common sense reforms to take habitual offenders off the street, give treatment and not narcotics to the addicted and lower the cost of living by lowering taxes and inflation …. then we can experience the Canada that we know and love,” he said.
Changes to legislation aren't working, he said.
“What we have seen after eight years of Justin Trudeau and the NDP is drugs, disorder, crime and chaos in communities like Timmins. The catch-and-release policies that Trudeau has brought in for repeat violent offenders have allowed the same thugs who terrorize our community to go out again and again and again," he said.
The so-called catch-and-release system is the current style of bail that sees people accused of crimes back on the street quickly and often reoffending.
Work is being done to change the bail system with Bill C-48.
It would make it more difficult for people accused of violent offences with weapons such as knives or bear spray, gun violence and intimate partner violence. In these cases, people would be detained while waiting for their trial unless they can prove it's not required. Courts would also have to consider the accused person's past convictions for violence and community safety when making bail decisions.
In Timmins, the calls for violent crime are down so far this year compared to the same time period in 2022. Property crime and social disorder calls are up, however.
SEE: Property crime calls up so far this year, drop in violent crime calls
“We think that … for serious property crimes there should be more serious penalties, especially for the repeat offenders. We all believe that a young person who makes a mistake when they’re 18 or 19 should get a second chance. But when it’s 50th or 60th car they’ve stolen or the 30th B and E they’ve done, they need to serve serious jail time to protect people and their property," said Poilievre.
The NDP, said Angus, pushed for the study to look at the bail provisions.
“We need the laws, particularly on bail, to make sure that the gang bangers that are coming up to our communities — they don’t get back on the street. That those who’ve got guns, those who’ve got gang affiliations, those people are being held. As for the awful situation of desperate opioid heads breaking windows and getting into people’s homes — I’ve dealt with it myself — we do have to look at a broader suite of tools. The mental health supports are not there," he said.
While the city has started to "bend the curve on homelessness," he said it's not nearly enough.
"Timmins, Sault Ste. Marie, Thunder Bay, Sudbury — municipal councils are not equipped to handle a mental health and drug crisis of this proportion. The province plays a big role here, where’s the province? What are they doing?” he said.
With a "perfect storm" of the opioid crisis and homelessness, Angus said communities in Northern Ontario and Canada are being hammered hard.
"What I find really offensive is that Pierre Poilievre doesn’t even bother to call the mayor before shooting his mouth off about what he thinks is wrong in Timmins. It really shows to me that he’s not coming to the table looking to offer solutions," said Angus.
Groups in Timmins have been working to reduce opioid deaths. Programs like the Fire Keepers Patrol, a mobile street outreach program that offers 24/7 year-round services to homeless people struggling with addiction, are keeping people alive, he said.
SEE: Mushkegowuk Council secures funding for a homeless outreach program
"What we need to do is show what the community is doing to fight the crisis, we need to respond to the shortfalls and we need everybody at the table at the federal and provincial level to address the issue of crime, the issue of homelessness and the issue of needing mental health supports for people who are seriously unwell out there,” said Angus.
This summer, there are a number of initiatives Angus wants to help make happen.
“What we don’t need is Pierre Poilievre deciding to make Timmins some kind of laughing stock because he doesn’t even bother to talk to the people on the ground who are doing the work — the police, the mayor, the DSSAB people who are working around the clock to keep people safe,” he said.
