Second shooting in less than a week took place in a downtown alley
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A weapons incident involving two assailants in an alleyway at Balsam Street and Fifth Avenue took place at 5:52 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 18. The area was temporarily closed off by the Timmins Police Service, but reopened at 9:50 a.m.
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A neighbouring restaurant owner says the police are working hard maintain community safety, but are up against a mountain of obstacles, such as lack of supportive housing or effective bail reform.
“I see them in the hood all the time,” said Brianna Humphrey, owner of Radical Gardens, of the police.
Radical Gardens is an award-winning farm-to-table catering company and takeout spot, with a small patio in the summertime.
“They’re equally as frustrated, and they’re also my regular customers,” she said.
Humphrey said she’s been robbed twenty times over ten years, including one year where she was robbed eight times. She has had money, computerized equipment, and beef stolen.
She now has secured her business further with window grates and unbreakable windows. But says a career criminal can always find a way to get in.
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“Thieves are like water, man, if they want in, they’re coming. It doesn’t matter. You lock up every door and put a grate on it, they’ll come with the saws and cut a hole in the wall,” she said.
Humphrey said the mining camp of Timmins has always been known for living and playing hard, however she would like to see bail reform.
In response to requests by Canada’s premiers and territorial leaders, the federal government toughened bail conditions for repeat violent offenders through Bill C-48 which became law in January, 2024.
The bill makes bail harder to get by shifting the burden of proof on the accused. This “reverse onus,” targets repeat violent offenders and requires the person charged to convince a court why she or he should be released, rather than a Crown prosecutor being required to prove why the offender should stay behind bars until trial.
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The bill also requires courts to take an accused person’s history of convictions for violence and the safety of the community into consideration when making a bail decision
Despite this and other changes, this past October, the Ontario government, with the support of the Police Association of Ontario and the Ontario Provincial Police, called on the federal government to tighten bail legislation again.
Six amendments to the Criminal Code were recommended, including mandating a “three-strike rule,” such that on their third offence, repeat offenders would be denied bail awaiting trial.
In response, Federal Attorney General Arif Virani reportedly said a similar policy in the U.S. did not have an impact on crime rates.
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“I don’t think the three-strike law is really terrifying,” Humphrey said, adding she does not support curfews, which risk casting too wide a net over the free movement of all citizens.
Instead, she would like to see more investment in building mental health facilities.
“We used to have a very large one in North Bay, now we have nothing,” she said, adding the offenders who have targeted her business are from “all walks of life.”
Humphrey, who moved to Timmins from Temagami as a child, says Timmins was a tougher town in the past, when the drug of choice was cocaine instead of fentanyl and heroin.
“I feel like nobody is remembering what it was like in the late nineties, when you could get jumped walking down an alleyway. It was hard to walk around, especially if you were a teenager. The odds of you getting beat up were pretty high.”
She says the fear of random violence downtown is exaggerated, and in fact, downtown has improved over the years.
“I walk downtown every day, I walk my dogs through all the alleyways, I use all the alleyways to cut through downtown. It’s a great place.”
Humphrey chooses to stay due to her family connections, and because she loves the benefits and freedoms of living in a smaller community, such as lack of gridlock, an approachable city council, and the ability to make a positive difference.
“I like the small community vibe,” she said.
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