Emergency responders, shelter want cold weather strategy in Yorkton; City open to committee
A new homeless shelter in Yorkton has shown the need for more warm-up locations in the city, along with the possible implementation of a cold weather strategy.
That’s according to multiple agencies dealing with Yorkton’s vulnerable community, with Yorkton Mayor Mitch Hippsley open to exploring its options.
“A committee is a really good idea. If we have enough interest, we would certainly look at that,” he told CTV News Wednesday.
Angela Chernoff is the shelter coordinator at Bruno’s Place, and said on weekends, the shelter has been full. Typically during the week, two to six individuals are housed at the shelter.
However, as the cold kicks in, it’s created added needs for the vulnerable community.
Chernoff said a cold weather strategy would be helpful, specifically with one resource to help out.
“I would like to see definitely a map put out. Something online that people can just look up and go, ‘Here’s the safe locations where you can go and warm up,’” she said.
RCMP said prior to Bruno’s Place opening, it would have to serve individuals by going through Social Services to get them a room and a warm meal.
Yorkton Detachment Commander Sgt. Burton Jones added that the shelter’s presence has changed the way his officers deal with these situations.
“With Bruno’s Place, it kind of fills that void, right? It's a warm place for them to go, where they can get a place to sleep but also a place to get something to eat,” he said.
EMS has not seen major issues early on this year, but they are preparing for it, according to Kelly Prime, Crestvue Ambulance Paramedic Chief.
He said his teams have dealt with everything, from minor frostbite to serious, life-altering conditions caused by the cold.
“We've seen some severe cases where it’s led to amputations. People have gone out in clothes, like in the minus 50 weather and have walked a far distance to try to get to shelter, and then needed EMS and needed police,” Prime said.
Moving forward, Bruno’s Place, along with Crestvue and Yorkton RCMP believe a cold weather strategy would be beneficial to all those in the community.
With added pressures of inflation, to a lack of hospital capacity, it is all creating additional needs for first responders, and those within Yorkton’s most vulnerable.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
For more than two decades, the unknown victim was nicknamed "Midtown Jane Doe" because she was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City. But this week, investigators finally revealed her identity.