Preserving Sudbury shelter safety can mean turning people away: workers

Questions about whether someone can be refused by a homeless shelter remain following an incident in Sudbury this week.

Three members of the Sudbury Coalition Against Poverty were arrested while speaking up for a man who was banned from the Out of the Cold shelter.

The city said the man who was not allowed into the emergency shelter on Monday night was being aggressive and endangering others.

But Anna Harbulik from the Coalition Against Poverty disputes this.

No one should be turned away from an emergency shelter, no matter what the circumstances, she said.

"It is never acceptable to send an individual out into -30 C cold."

CBC News’ calls to the Salvation Army, which operates the shelter on behalf of the city, were not returned.

Lise Senecal, who runs a youth homeless shelter in Sudbury, said sometimes they have no choice but to close the door on someone.

As for the role the Coalition Against Poverty played in this incident, Senecal says she is a supporter of free speech, but "when they are interfering with something we are doing, we also have rights. That's at the time that I would have a problem."

At the Association De Jeunes de la Rue, Senecal said addiction is more of a problem than aggression.

She said they have to turn away young people who are drunk or high and try to get them to detox, or to the Out of the Cold Shelter, where intoxicated people are taken in..

"We will never let them at the door without transportation somewhere, but we need to realize that, at 16, they're allowed to make a decision. If they refuse transportation, we cannot force them [to stay]."

At Sudbury's Samaritan Centre, the list of people barred from the facility currently has about 10 names on it.

Executive Director Kevin Serviss said most cases involve threatening or attacking staff and other clients of the shelter, soup kitchen and clinic.

"We do it with great reluctance where we have to do it, but we recognize that we have to provide a safe place for our clientele."

The members of the coalition charged with trespassing and causing a disturbance make their first court appearance next month.