First responders detail dangers of closing Thunder Bay, Ont., street outreach services before winter

First responders in Thunder Bay, Ont., are expressing disappointment and concern as they approach a winter without life-saving outreach services in the northwestern Ontario city.

Earlier this fall, it was announced Shelter House's street outreach service (SOS) was being terminated due to a lack of funding and staff. A short time later, there were reports the vehicle used for NorWest Community Health Centres' care bus was for sale on Facebook Marketplace.

Both programs offered free transportation, food and water, and basic wound care, among other services for people living outdoors, sometimes struggling with addiction or poor mental health.

They don't address the root causes, or provide a systemic solution, to supporting people experiencing homelessness or who use substances, but they filled a gap in the community — a gap otherwise filled by police and paramedics.

"Programs like the care bus and SOS help take unnecessary pressure off our service and allow our members to focus on the core functions of law enforcement," said Thunder Bay Police Service (TBPS) Insp. Derek West in an emailed statement to CBC News.

"They also provide some of our most vulnerable citizens with a service more appropriate to their needs," West added.

In 2014, the TBPS responded to more than 4,000 calls for service related to Ontario's Liquor Licence Act, including public intoxication. Those numbers have declined consistently, according to the TBPS, with just 1,390 calls for service in 2021, a nearly 70 per cent drop.

"We do believe this drop is, partly or entirely, the result of programs like SOS, which provide a real and practical diversion from a law enforcement response," West said.

"We are concerned that if programs like this are discontinued, we will see calls for service steadily increase."

A similar concern was raised by another police officer, Det. Const. Neal Soltys, during his testimony at an ongoing inquest in Thunder Bay. Among other key questions, the inquest is examining the police responses to public intoxication calls, including Soltys's conduct after he dragged an Indigenous man across the TBPS headquarters while using derogatory language.

Lawyers at the inquest asked Soltys about the role the SOS program plays in supporting people suspected of being intoxicated, and transporting them to an appropriate place.

"Police are the backstop for everything that happens in society. The SOS program, we use them a lot … they pick up marginalized people, they pick up intoxicated people," he said.

With cancellation of the SOS, "it leaves that hole that will have to be picked up by police. We just don't have the resources, we don't have the training to deal with it," Soltys added.

The officer estimated it only takes 15 minutes to attend a call for service when the SOS program is involved, but it can take upwards of 50 minutes to bring someone suspected of intoxication to a police cell, and between two and four hours for an officer to bring someone to hospital for medical care.