Timmins could be opening its doors to flood evacuees from the James Bay coast.
The City of Timmins says agreements are being worked on between some community groups and the leadership of several First Nations communities that evacuate every spring because of flooding.
Mayor Steve Black says last year the city didn’t host any evacuees. Black says the city has had some issues with a part of the relief agreement in terms of taking on the liability and financials. Some councillors have stated that local taxpayers shouldn’t be on the hook if the federal government is late on financially helping the community take in families. Black says a relief committee has discussed this issue and would still like to move forward with helping the coastal communities. He says Northern College and the Senator Hotel have agreed to take the lead on this project.
Black says this process is more than just making sure you have accommodations for evacuated families.
Black can not say for certain if any evacuees will be coming to Timmins, but the offer is going out to host the visitors. He says if the final details get ironed out, Timmins could see a few hundred evacuees coming to the community by the end of the month.