'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.”
Prince William and his wife Catherine have been filmed at a farm shop near their Windsor home, The Sun newspaper reported -- the first footage of Kate since she had abdominal surgery for an unspecified condition two months ago.
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.
Former U.S. president Donald Trump on Monday charged that Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and hate 'their religion,' igniting a firestorm of criticism from the White House and Jewish leaders.
A family doctor in Toronto has been suspended for three months after a disciplinary tribunal found that he failed to follow proper protocols while examining a patient's breasts and made inappropriate comments about her body.
Freddie Mercury's sanctuary in London, where he lived the last decade of his life, is on sale for the first time in nearly half a century -- minus his "exquisite clutter."
The warmest winter on record could have far-reaching effects on everything from wildfire season to erosion, climatologists say, while offering a preview of what the season could resemble in the not-so-distant future unless steps are taken to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
There will be road closures and an increased police presence in downtown Ottawa this week as former prime minister Brian Mulroney lies in state in the nation's capital.
Two former employees of a Kitchener, Ont., grocer said their Ministry of Labour cases were settled, but only one has been paid what they were allegedly owed.
One person has been taken to hospital with serious, life-threatening injuries following a two-vehicle crash in London Tuesday morning. According to London fire, the crash happened on Dundas Street near Creamery Road and one person had to be extricated from a vehicle.
A chaotic scene was described in a London, Ont. courtroom as the trial of a senior citizen charged in the roadside crash that killed a young girl got underway on Monday.
A recent commercial motor vehicle blitz has resulted in dozens of charges, according to police. On Wednesday, Essex County OPP, LaSalle police and the Ministry of Transportation performed the blitz on Highway 3 in Tecumseh.
A report on compensation for Windsor City Council and the mayor came before those very elected officials Monday, raising the age-old question: should Windsor’s part-time councillors be considered full-time employees?
While the first half of March in Montreal had above-average temperatures and occasional double-digit warmth, cold and snow are expected to welcome the beginning of spring.
The median waiting time in emergency rooms has remained relatively stable year on year, at 5 hours 13 minutes, according to a report published Monday by the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI).
A Nova Scotia teenager accused of stabbing two staff members at a Halifax-area high school last year has pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault.
Family of a Calgary man killed after a 30-hour standoff with police last week are speaking out, sharing details of the tense and heart-wrenching experience.
New meat labelling rules in the United States could have an impact on the ability of Canadian beef producers to move their product into its largest consumer market.
A group representing former residents who say they're owed tens of millions from an Edmonton-based operator say the Alberta government's plans for life leases don't go far enough to address those who are waiting for repayment.
As their community still struggles with rebuilding infrastructure and housing residents whose homes burned in a devastating wildfire, Shuswap’s local government is baffled at comments made by provincial officials.
People living Vancouver’s West End are calling on the city to do something about a “nightmare” intersection that residents say has been the scene of numerous accidents and near-accidents.
Just after midnight Monday, the price for gasoline at stations throughout Metro Vancouver climbed above $2 per litre, before dipping ever so slightly below the two-dollar mark.
A motion from the federal New Democrats initially calling on Canada to recognize the 'State of Palestine' passed amid widespread acrimony on Monday, after the Liberals drastically altered its wording to see the government simply work towards that aim as part of a two-state solution.
A state funeral for former prime minister Brian Mulroney will be held in Montreal on March 23. CTV News will have live special coverage of his funeral service.
TELUS Health has released its Mental Health Index today, with reports that examine the mental health of employed people in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, Singapore, New Zealand and Australia.
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.
The COVID-19 lockdown for humans was not an opportunity for wildlife to run free, in fact a new study found herbivores tend to be more active around people, while carnivores remained hidden.
A movie set armourer is challenging her conviction on an involuntary manslaughter charge in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin on the set of the Western film "Rust," court records released Monday show.
R. Kelly’s lawyer told an appeals court Monday that all kinds of legitimate organizations — even college fraternities — could be deemed racketeering organizations under a law used to convict the R&B superstar at his Brooklyn trial of sexually abusing young fans, including children, for decades.
On-demand U.S. audio and video streams for 'I'm Just Ken' topped three million streams in the week after Ryan Gosling's Oscars performance, a 422 per cent increase from the prior week.
A traveller who accused WestJet of failing to deliver his luggage during a weeks-long trip from Canada to the U.K. is not entitled to compensation, B.C.'s small claims tribunal has ruled.
Two former employees of a Kitchener, Ont., grocer said their Ministry of Labour cases were settled, but only one has been paid what they were allegedly owed.
A small stone vial discovered in southeastern Iran contained a red cosmetic that was likely used as a lip coloring nearly 4,000 years ago, according to archaeologists.
Former Olympic gold medalist Caitlyn Jenner on Monday said she supported a local New York official’s order banning female sports teams with transgender athletes from using county-owned facilities.
Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw says three months into 2024, the city has already seen more than double the number of carjackings it did this time last year.
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.