'How do people keep warm?' Demand for warmth outpacing supply in winter months
'How do people keep warm?' Demand for warmth outpacing supply in winter months
Regina housing advocates Joey Reynolds and Donnie Wood are speaking up, with the hope to spark change to make sure everyone has a warm place to stay, especially at night.
Reynolds has been in and out of homelessness for the past two decades and is all too familiar with spending nights outside in the cold.
“Not quite freezing to death,” he said. “But very frozen when I would wake up.”
Wood helps other find housing and volunteers at various food and soup kitchens.
Wednesday morning, temperatures in Regina hit minus 50 Celsius. Frostbite can occur within two to five minutes of exposure in those conditions.
“How do people keep warm?” asked Wood. “It doesn’t matter what type of winter clothes you have, you’re still going to be cold when you’re out all night.”
Carmichael Outreach said weekly, there is someone coming to their shelter in serious condition caused by the cold.
“We’re going to experience that more and more as we get deeper into the winter,” said development coordinator Amanda Benesh.
During the day, there are six options for warming shelters in the city.
The Newo-Yotina Friendship Centre, ‘SWAP’ on Albert St., The John Howard Society, Carmichael Outreach, Awasiw – The Warming Place and the Regina Public Library are open for individuals looking for warm up, have a coffee or hot chocolate or snack.
Only Awasiw is open during the night.
“In the evening, it’s very limited,” said Benesh.
Benesh said Awasiw’s capacity is about 30 beds for two hour increments. It is also an over 30 minute walk from All Nation’s Hope to Carmichael.
“What are they supposed to do in minus 50? Walk to a new safe place? It’s not an option,” she said. “Everybody has a right to a roof over their head and a warm place to stay. We’re not asking for much.”
While temperatures will remain below zero in the next few months, the extreme cold is expected to make its return.
Wood and Reynolds hope they will see action before the situation turns deadly.
“It’s about priority,” they said. “What is the priority for this community?”
A senior government official says a Canadian military assessment team is on its way to Turkiye in the wake of a devastating earthquake that's killed thousands.
A man has been arrested and two children are dead after a driver crashed a city bus into a daycare in Laval, Que. Wednesday morning. The deadly crash sent multiple children to area hospitals and parents scrambling to find their kids shortly after they dropped them off for the day at the Garderie éducative Sainte-Rose, north of Montreal.
Many Canadians are experiencing strains caused by the increased cost of living and inflation. In his exclusive column for CTVNews.ca, contributor Christopher Liew shares some of the top credits and deductions that you may be able to claim on your income tax return to help you save money.
In a first for the Bank of Canada, it has released a summary of deliberations by its governing council regarding its policy decision to raise its key interest rate target by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.5 per cent in January. Here are five key takeaways from those discussions.
Netflix Canada is rolling out its long-anticipated plans to crack down on password sharing, saying it will begin notifying Canadian users today by email about limitations.
The way respiratory viruses have circulated this fall and winter, most Canadians could probably benefit from a hand-hygiene refresher. Here are the latest hand-washing best practices to apply in your daily life.
Condolences are pouring in on Parliament Hill after a Laval, Que., city bus crashed into a daycare on Wednesday morning, with federal politicians of all stripes expressing their sympathies with the families affected and gratitude to the first responders.
Protracted labour shortages in Canada could fuel more rapid wage growth and inflation over time, potentially prompting the need for higher interest rates long-term, a new RBC Economics report released Wednesday said.
A Saskatoon couple is left feeling powerless to help their family and friends dig out of the rubble following the two major earthquakes in Turkiye on Monday.
Saskatoon's Ward 3 city councillor David Kirton decided to cancel his “Coffee with the Councillor” event scheduled for Saturday afternoon at Confederation Mall because of what he calls threatening phone calls and emails which became a “cause for concern”.
The federal government is putting up $500,000 for a feasibility study into a potential search for the remains of two Indigenous women at a Winnipeg-area landfill.
An annual $5 payment to members of seven First Nations has remained the same for more than 150 years, but one man is hoping to change that. Zongidaya Nelson is suing the federal government for 11 billion dollars on the behalf of his Roseau River Anishinabe First Nation, and the six other First Nations in Manitoba that signed Treaty 1 in 1871.
The Calgary Police Service asked residents of a northwest neighbourhood to shelter in their homes as officers responded to a situation Wednesday morning involving a firearm.
Animal welfare advocates are urging pet owners to spay and neuter their pets after two kittens were found abandoned in a child's backpack in the St. Albert area last week.
An Ontario lawyer who filed a $229-million lawsuit against his former “sugar baby” for alleged fraud had his case dismissed after the court found he'd become "obsessed" with the young woman when she attempted to end their arrangement.
An Ontario grocery chain said they are seeing an “unprecedented” surge in customers after a recent TikTok revealing the company’s low food prices went viral.
A man has been arrested and two children are dead after a driver crashed a city bus into a daycare in Laval, Que. Wednesday morning. The deadly crash sent multiple children to area hospitals and parents scrambling to find their kids shortly after they dropped them off for the day at the Garderie éducative Sainte-Rose, north of Montreal.
There are more signs that tensions are high in British Columbia’s health authorities as an outspoken doctor on Vancouver Island has faced professional repercussions and nearly all the critical care doctors at a northern hospital have resigned.
Crews are scheduled to begin upgrade work on Vancouver's Granville Bridge next week, but officials are promising the impacts on traffic will be minimal.
The latest B.C. Labour Market Outlook forecasts employment in the province will reach 3.1 million jobs by 2032 – half a million more than there were last year.
A man has been arrested and two children are dead after a driver crashed a city bus into a daycare in Laval, Que. Wednesday morning. The deadly crash sent multiple children to area hospitals and parents scrambling to find their kids shortly after they dropped them off for the day at the Garderie éducative Sainte-Rose, north of Montreal.
Condolences are pouring in on Parliament Hill after a Laval, Que., city bus crashed into a daycare on Wednesday morning, with federal politicians of all stripes expressing their sympathies with the families affected and gratitude to the first responders.
Justin Trudeau has thrown in the towel in the fight to maintain the federal role as gatekeeper of a public, universal, accessible and fair health-care system in Canada, writes former NDP leader Tom Mulcair in an exclusive column for CTVNews.ca. 'That could have tragic consequences for folks on the lower rungs of the social and economic ladder.'
Mounties on Vancouver Island say they were in "disbelief" when they saw a senior driving more than 100 km/h through a school zone in Qualicum Beach, B.C.
Charges have now been laid against a tug and barge company and one of its senior officials two years after a tug sank off British Columbia's coast south of Kitimat, killing the captain and one crew member.
Nova Scotia Health is under the microscope after eight employees were found snooping into medical records. The privacy breaches involve the electronic health records of people associated with the April 2020 mass shooting in Nova Scotia, among others.
A grieving family in Noelville, Ont., is reeling after a judge dismissed a trial connected to a 2019 workplace fatality involving a close family member.
The wait is over for ticketholders in the latest Canadian Hard of Hearing Association's Ultimate Dream Home Draw as Pure Country Sudbury morning show hosts pulled the names of the prize winners Wednesday afternoon.
A memorial has been set up in the area where 30-year-old Karen Cunningham’s body was found, as police in Woodstock continue to investigate her death as “suspicious” in nature.
