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Warming centre in Barrie dismantled by organizers following complaint

'To be honest, I’m not surprised. ... I’m really sad, though, because it’s cold. It’s really cold,' says city councillor
09-01-2022 WCdown111
A Barrie police cruiser sits parked across the street after the warming centre was dismantled Sunday.

The makeshift warming centre in downtown Barrie was dismantled mid-morning Sunday following a visit from city police.

The tarps were taken down at the gazebo at Sam Cancilla Park, on Dunlop Street East, just past Mulcaster Street, after city police received a complaint.

“It was a complaint that was called in to Barrie police. We did have officers attend, they spoke with the organizer and, as a result, they (organizers) took down the enclosure,” said Barrie police communications co-ordinator Peter Leon, who did not provide information on the nature of the complaint or who made it.

Heather Kennedy, who owns a small business on Dunlop East, helped take the warming centre down.

“We’ve been helping (warming centre organizer) Pastor Andy (Stokes) the last couple of days, had a small group of women who are business owners just lending a hand and we have now helped him dismantle this location, which happened without incident,” she said.

Coun. Natalie Harris has been pushing for an indoor warming centre and was there when the makeshift structure came down.

“To be honest, I’m not surprised. I know that it had been up, I think it’s been 10 days now,” she said. “The days have just gone by and there haven’t been any complaints until today.

“The police are doing their job. This isn’t permitted because it’s public space. So we’re just taking it down and that’s where we’re at,” Harris added. “I’m really sad, though, because it’s cold. It’s really cold.”

Kennedy said many people helped the warming centre function while it was up.

“Basically, we were here accepting donations after the community rallied to help the people who were living out on the street,” she said. “We received an overwhelming amount to the point where they had to find a satellite location to store the donations because there were so many of them.”

Harris said an indoor warming centre is still being sought, and she plans to introduce a motion at Monday night’s general committee meeting asking that the city and the County of Simcoe share the $28,000 cost of staffing a warming centre, when one is found.


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Bob Bruton

About the Author: Bob Bruton

Bob Bruton is a full-time BarrieToday reporter who covers politics and city hall.
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