Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall will hold a news conference on Tuesday in the area of the courthouse and Busby Centre, where tents line either side of Mulcaster Street, many of them appearing soon after a homeless encampment was cleared as part of a police investigation into a double homicide in the area of Anne, John, and Victoria Streets.
The city issued a news release on Monday saying that the mayor was to make an "important announcement" at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow.
No details were disclosed, but Nuttall may have dropped some hints, posting "more to come" on social media on Monday, along with a 2019 video of himself speaking to Barrie City Council when he was a Conservative MP and said he supported a local emergency being called, as the municipality grappled with the opioid crisis.
"Now, I am not opposed to a federal, provincial government declaring an emergency if the City of Barrie also declares one. In fact, I've even made this request to the federal government along with colleagues in all parties in the Canadian House of Commons on December 10, 2018."
When he spoke to city council, Nuttall said that declaring a local health emergency would allow for the coordination of all services like first responders, volunteer organizations, and individuals towards a single goal.
In a podcast interview with Barrie 360 last month talking about homelessness and addictions, the mayor said the city is a place where, if a person wants to get help to move forward in their life, the municipality wants to help make that happen.
"If you're here to live in a state of addictions, I'm sure there are better places that aren't Barrie for you to go," he said. "We are a place that we take a lot of pride in our community. We want every park to be safe and every part of our city to be safe. If you want the help and you want to be part of our community, we want to help you get there. We'll make sure that we can find transitional housing, we'll make sure we can find affordable housing, but we can't have a city where individuals think it's okay just to live homeless and impact those around them."
Sara Peddle, executive director of the Busby Centre, told Barrie 360 last month that the bigger issue with tents popping up is that more people are entering homelessness and there are not enough shelter spaces.
Busby is a not-for-profit that assists individuals and families experiencing homelessness.
