Calls for evictions, threats of vigilantism over drug activity at Kenora, Ont., apartment building

Residents of The Maples, a social housing building in Kenora, Ont., say they don't feel safe due to the city's escalating drug crisis. 

While some have threatened to take matters into their own hands through acts of vigilantism, others are calling for a more collaborative approach between the city and community agencies.

Coun. Lisa Moncrief called a public meeting Monday at the seniors' centre in Keewatin, a former town amalgamated to form the City of Kenora more than 20 years ago. The room was packed with 50 people and over 120 people tuned in to a livestream of the two-hour session.

Moncrief called a panel of representatives to field questions from residents:

The Maples is a KDSB-owned apartment building with 20 subsidized units. While many of the occupants are seniors, it is an all-ages building.

Tenants shared concerns about drug use in and around the building, confrontations with intoxicated people and fears about discarded needles in the neighbourhood. One person was asked to leave the meeting after yelling at Duggan.

The NWHU's catchment area had the eighth highest opioid toxicity mortality rate last year among the province's public health units. The only safe consumption site in the region is in Thunder Bay, about 480 kilometres southeast of Kenora, which has a population of about 15,000.

The City of Kenora has been working on a new community safety and well-being plan, which is required by all municipalities under the province's Safer Ontario Act. But Attanasio said it won't be ready for council's approval until December.

Henry Wall, chief administrative officer of the KDSB, said the board is aware of a unit in The Maples that has received multiple complaints. Though hiring security guards is too expensive, KDSB works closely with Ontario Provincial Police to address concerns.

While a person may be in recovery from addiction when they move into a KDSB building, relapses happen and resources for that aren't always available.

When evictions are necessary, the backlog of cases at the Landlord and Tenant Board means it can take up to a year to remove unlawful tenants.

"That system really is not working," Wall told CBC News. "It's close to being a broken system at this point."

Wall said some residents at Monday's meeting suggested removing people who use drugs from KDSB buildings, adding that "for us, an eviction is the absolute last resort. 

"When an eviction does happen and there isn't alternative housing, people are displaced right back onto the streets and that creates other challenges in a community."