'What this community needs': Pikangikum First Nation opens safe house for families in crisis
A northern Ontario First Nation has opened up a new safe house designed to help its residents heal from abusive and dangerous situations.
Share
toronto -
A northern Ontario First Nation has opened up a new safe house designed to help its residents heal from abusive and dangerous situations.
Pikangikum First Nation, a remote community about 230 kilometres north of Kenora, Ont., recently opened the Pikangikum Community Safe House, a multi-unit facility designed to help those in the community with nowhere else to go.
“We're very excited to have a place like this in our community to help our members,” Jonah Strang, deputy chief of the Pikangikum First Nation, told CTV News.
"It should help out the families that usually have problems at home."
Pikangikum First Nation was once known as having some of the highest suicide rates in the world.
Alcohol abuse remains a serious issue in the community of about 4,000 residents and a lack of housing has led to fewer safe spaces for people looking to escape a potentially dangerous situation.
"We have multi-generational families that live within one home,” said Vernon Kejick, a victims' services advocate in Pikangikum First Nation.
Kejick is largely considered a key player in seeing the project through and ensuring it’s completed.
"I felt that it was my purpose to bring a facility like this into this community,” he said.
The new safe house can hold up to eight families and also contains a seven-suite hotel, which will help provide mental health workers with a place to stay.
"It's so accommodating,” said Jojo Alfonso, a teacher in the community. “It's perfect. It's what this community needs."
Building the safe house was no easy task and took several years to complete. The multi-million dollar project relied on ice roads to transport equipment and materials into the community.
"It was a mad rush before the winter road went out to try to get the facility in,” Kejick said.
“The Safe House will be committed to assisting victims of abuse; women and their children in the difficult transition from an abusive and violent domestic environment to a positive, independent, and non-violent lifestyle,” the company said. “The facility would primarily offer safe, temporary shelter with access to support services for women, children, elders (and) LGBTQ who are victims of the many facets of family violence.”
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
An Ontario senior’s attempt to get technical help online led him into a spoofing scam where he lost $25,000. Now, he’s sharing his story to warn others.
A Canadian sports economist is encouraging Canucks fans to enjoy the team’s playoff run, but cautioning against having big expectations around economic spinoffs.
Police and firefighters are going door-to-door telling people who live in the vicinity of a wildfire burning out of control near Chetwynd they need to evacuate.
Ontario is still playing catch up on routine vaccinations that many children missed during the pandemic and public health officials are warning that it could take years to solve the problem.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Honda executives are expected to announce today that the Japanese automaker is building an electric vehicle battery plant in Alliston, Ont., part of a $15-billion investment.
A township east of Toronto has been without its only full supermarket for nearly a year after it was destroyed in a fire. On Tuesday, residents learned it won't reopen.
The director of education for the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board says making sure elementary school students can attend classes close to home is an important part of making schooling in Ottawa more equitable.
The National Capital Commission has purchased the old Dunnderosa Golf Course in Chelsea, Que., as part of its plan to acquire private properties in Gatineau Park.
A mother and daughter are speaking out after a Quebec man was sentenced to house arrest for years of domestic abuse. They were both physically assaulted by the mother's ex-partner and say the offender got off with another light sentence.
Kristin O'Neill had a goal and an assist in helping lead Montreal to a 5-2 win over New York and clinch a playoff spot in the Professional Women's Hockey League.
The Alberta government says it will pay nurse practitioners 80 per cent of what family doctors are paid – if they want to practice comprehensive primary care.
Former Oilers player, coach and general manager Craig MacTavish talks to CTV News Edmonton's Matt Woodman about playoff hockey and Game 2 between Edmonton and Los Angeles.
Fishery officers seized more than three kilograms of elvers and arrested five people from Maine for Fisheries Act infractions in Digby County, N.S., on Saturday night.
It was a powerful morning at Regina's Conexus Arts Centre Wednesday, where the Lieutenant Governor hosted the annual Saskatchewan Prayer Breakfast and a provincial doctor told his story of survival from a deadly heart condition.
A throwing star and crossbow were among the seizures by police as part of a drug trafficking investigation on George Gordon First Nation and in Punnichy, Sask. last week.
A Waterloo, Ont. teacher says she’s frustrated after learning the arthritis medication she depends on is no longer covered under her benefits plan and she'll have to switch pharmacies to avoid paying out of pocket.
A Saskatchewan woman who was taken for an involuntary mental health assessment is entitled to find out who had her committed, a provincial court judge has ruled.
International aircraft giant Boeing has made a multi-million dollar commitment to the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technology (SIIT) to help address shortages in the aviation industry.
In the midst of a homelessness crisis, an influx of asylum seekers is putting additional pressure on London, Ont.’s limited number of permanent shelter beds.
Nine years after a London, Ont. man was shot to death in a botched robbery at his home, the man responsible for the shooting was given a prison sentence on Wednesday.
U.S. Marshals joins search for Deshawn Davis, one of Canada’s most wanted, accused of the kidnapping of Elnaz Hajtamiri in Wasaga Beach January 2022 and the suspect in a nightclub shooting that took place in May of last year.
A Windsor man convicted in a violent murder 20 years ago was successful in his ‘faint hope’ bid for an early chance at freedom after a jury agreed he should be given the chance to apply for early parole eligibility.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Honda executives are expected to announce today that the Japanese automaker is building an electric vehicle battery plant in Alliston, Ont., part of a $15-billion investment.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
The B.C. woman convicted of killing Reena Virk described the TV series dramatizing the notorious 1997 murder as disrespectful to the victim and her family.
Crown counsel was unable to approve "significant" drug and weapons charges stemming from an arrest in Quesnel, B.C., last year because the officers involved "refused to provide any evidence," according to a report from the province’s police watchdog.
Search and rescue crews have been called in after a vehicle belonging to a missing senior was located near a rural intersection outside of Kelowna Tuesday.
Major crime detectives in British Columbia are investigating a suspected homicide after a body was found in a remote area southeast Kelowna over the weekend.
The Ontario Provincial Police, in partnership with the Treaty Three Police Service, have charged a suspect with murder following a homicide in a remote northwestern Ontario community.
Newfoundlander Christian Sparkes has shot several films around his home province, but with his new psychological thriller 'The King Tide' he saw an opportunity to wander into one unique town that had eluded him over the years.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans says two people were found dead and four others survived after a boat capsized off the west coast of Newfoundland.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
It was a powerful morning at Regina's Conexus Arts Centre Wednesday, where the Lieutenant Governor hosted the annual Saskatchewan Prayer Breakfast and a provincial doctor told his story of survival from a deadly heart condition.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday that it had found bird flu virus particles in some samples of pasteurized milk, but said commercial milk supply remains safe.
U.S. President Joe Biden signed legislation Wednesday that could ban TikTok in the U.S. while his campaign has embraced the platform and tried to work with influencers.
A new paper says a giant salmon that lived five million years ago in the coastal waters of the Pacific Northwest used tusk-like spikes as defense mechanisms and for building nests to spawn.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he's not going to comment on the future of TikTok in the United States, but his own government will continue to look out for Canadians' security.
The B.C. woman convicted of killing Reena Virk described the TV series dramatizing the notorious 1997 murder as disrespectful to the victim and her family.
A judge has declined to dismiss hundreds of lawsuits filed against rap star Travis Scott over his role in the deadly 2021 Astroworld festival in which 10 people were killed in a crowd surge.
It's a midweek lunchtime on an unassuming residential street in Vauxhall, south London. There aren't many people about – the occasional dog walker, a few runners, a couple of delivery drivers. I'’s pretty much what you’d expect on a drizzly work day.
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
New condo sales in the Toronto region dropped to the lowest quarterly total since the financial crisis in 2009 amid high interest rates and affordability issues, a new report has found.
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
A portrait of a young woman by Gustav Klimt that was long believed to be lost was sold at an auction in Vienna on Wednesday for 30 million euros (US$32 million).
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Kansas City Royals right-hander Alec Marsh was hit in his throwing shoulder by a line drive, forcing him to leave in the fifth inning against Toronto on Wednesday night.
A made-in-China electric vehicle will hit North American dealers this summer offering power and efficiency similar to the Tesla Model Y, the world's best-selling EV, but for about US$8,000 less.
Tesla's first-quarter net income plummeted 55 per cent as falling global sales and price cuts sliced into the electric vehicle maker's revenue and profit margins.
Josef Newgarden’s win in IndyCar’s season-opening race at St. Petersburg was disqualified Wednesday because Team Penske manipulated its push-to-pass system during the race, making Pato O’Ward the winner.