How drug trafficking and shootings in Thunder Bay's social housing impact people living there

Clarence Bruyere looks both ways before entering the hallway of his building in Thunder Bay, Ont., a routine instilled in him after witnessing years of criminal activity. 

Bruyere has lived at Spence Court, a social housing building on Amelia Street West, for more than a decade. After being on the streets, he said he was fast-tracked through the wait list with support from those at Shelter House. 

The building has been in the spotlight after a recent daylight shooting on May 2. The incident prompted Coun. Kristen Oliver to call a Westfort ward meeting to hear the public's concerns, which revolved around escalating guns and gang violence and drug trafficking. 

What wasn't heard in that meeting was the voices of those who live at Spence Court.

Bruyere described groups of people who don't live there crowding the doors and slipping inside when tenants go in or out, screaming late at night and into the early morning, and people knocking on his door mistaking him for a drug dealer.

About four or five years ago, he said there was a dispute that resulted in a tenant, who was not involved, being shot in the leg.

This May's shooting has set residents further on edge. People used to spend time in the common room talking or watching TV, and would have their morning coffee in the garden outside. That doesn't happen much anymore.

"People are scared," said Bruyere. "That's the sad thing about it."

Crimes not limited to social housing

Spence Court, which contains 163 units, is owned by the District of Thunder Bay Social Services Administration Board (TBDSSAB), the service system manager for child care, social and affordable housing, and Ontario Works for the District of Thunder Bay.

Despite misconceptions at the Westfort ward meeting, it is not funded to provide mental health or addiction services, though tenant support workers do provide on-site support to those who request it, said TBDSSAB's chief administrative officer, Bill Bradica.

While Bradica acknowledges the safety concerns raised by residents, he said criminal activities are happening across the city, not just in social housing.

"It does seem that whenever there is an incident in one of our buildings or near one of our buildings, we are publicly called out as an organization. The same doesn't happen when it's a building owned by, say, a private landlord," Bradica said.

To Bradica, the shooting in May and the community's response to it has raised another issue: stereotypes around social housing and the people who live in it.

"I think we really have to consider that not everyone that's living in poverty is a criminal, and I think maybe there's a little bit of that mindset from certain people," he said.

Restrictions at TBDSSAB units not the answer: CAO

Several residents at the Westfort ward meeting suggested Spence Court be re-designated as seniors-only housing.

Bradica said the demand for single seniors units has declined over the years, due to the implementation of the Canada Pension Plan and other supports, which is why more buildings were opened up to people ages 18 and older. About 20 per cent of the roughly 1,200 people on the wait list for social housing are seniors, he said.

While TBDSSAB has some 55+ and 60+ buildings, "the majority of the people on the wait list are non-senior single individuals," Bradica said.

I think we really have to consider that not everyone that's living in poverty is a criminal.- Bill Bradica, CAO of TBDSSAB

Another suggestion made was to ban guests entirely from Spence Court to bar criminal activity – but doing so would go against tenants' rights.

As Bruyere pointed out, many people simply go inside whenever the doors are opened. If he tried to stop them, he said he'd risk being beaten up or harassed.

Any time he or his neighbours have reported concerns to police or to TBDSSAB, they're told the same thing: "we'll look into it."

"It gets to be to the point of crying wolf," Bruyere said. "What's the sense of even saying something? Because nothing's gonna happen anyway." 

TBDSSAB reports criminal activity when it occurs, said Bradica, but "the majority of tenants are law-abiding people."

"They're just simply trying to live their life in peace without being stereotyped," he said.

In September 2019, the provincial government introduced legislation under its Community Housing Renewal Strategy to let housing providers deny tenants who were previously evicted from community housing for serious crimes, such as drug trafficking.

TBDSSAB is pursuing evictions for tenants involved in criminal activities, but there's a big backlog at the Landlord and Tenant Board, especially after the provincial government paused evictions for things like rent arrears during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Bradica.

Then there's the issue of home takeovers, where residents are manipulated by drug dealers or gang members who refuse to leave their units. 

That's something Darcy Fleury, Thunder Bay's new chief of police, said the service is actively investigating, but it takes a long-term strategy to eliminate these groups entirely. Oftentimes, "once you take some people off, you find another group or they reinforce it with other people," Fleury said.

As for response times at Spence Court, Fleury said officers do their best but staffing shortages can result in delays, especially when calls are triaged.

Calls for more security at buildings

There are more than 1,000 security cameras set up at TBDSSAB's units and security guards at many buildings, including Spence Court. Last year, a consultant reviewed TBDSSAB's security measures and made some recommendations, which the board is continuing to follow up on, Bradica said.  

Those includes developing a closer relationship with the Thunder Bay Police Service, which takes a humanizing, non-criminal approach when it comes to its presence at social housing units.

"Those officers have developed trust with our tenants and really are approaching this in a non-criminalizing manner to develop that rapport with people," Bradica said.

Bruyere said a security guard patrols Spence Court regularly, but he'd feel safer if someone was stationed in the lobby from the time the doors are locked at 9 p.m. to when they reopen at 7 a.m. 

"If I knew security was there, I'd get off the elevator with confidence or comfort," said Bruyere. "If someone's coming down the hall and I don't know who it is, I close the door and wait for them to go by, wait for the elevator, then I'll go out."

"I don't know him, I'm closing the door."