{"id":99502,"date":"2025-11-21T08:35:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T13:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=99502"},"modified":"2025-11-21T08:35:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T13:35:12","slug":"state-of-emergency-highlights-bigger-regional-issue-says-executive-director","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/21\/state-of-emergency-highlights-bigger-regional-issue-says-executive-director\/","title":{"rendered":"State of emergency highlights bigger regional issue, says executive director"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Marissa Lentz-McGrath, Local Journalism Initiative, TimminsToday.com TIMMINS &#8211; With encampments being dismantled in Timmins and overcrowding worsening in remote communities, Mushkegowuk Council says its newly declared state of emergency reflects a crisis that has long been ignored. Mushkegowuk Council CEO Vern Cheechoo spoke with TimminsToday about why the council formally declared a state of emergency on Nov. 17, calling the crisis \u201congoing\u201d and worsening across the region. Cheechoo said the decision came as Timmins worked to dismantle an encampment because of snow removal operations, with the city initially setting a Nov. 14 timeline to relocate residents. \u201cThey were afraid that someone could get hurt,\u201d he said. \u201cBut they didn&#8217;t come in there and force anybody out. They worked with the people there and took their time \u2026 They were&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F11%2F21%2Fstate-of-emergency-highlights-bigger-regional-issue-says-executive-director%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Marissa Lentz-McGrath, Local Journalism Initiative, TimminsToday.com TIMMINS &#8211; With encampments being dismantled in Timmins and overcrowding worsening in remote communities, Mushkegowuk Council says its newly declared state of emergency reflects a crisis that has long been ignored. Mushkegowuk Council CEO Vern Cheechoo spoke with TimminsToday about why the council formally declared a state of emergency on Nov. 17, calling the crisis \u201congoing\u201d and worsening across the region. Cheechoo said the decision came as Timmins worked to dismantle an encampment because of snow removal operations, with the city initially setting a Nov. 14 timeline to relocate residents. \u201cThey were afraid that someone could get hurt,\u201d he said. \u201cBut they didn&#8217;t come in there and force anybody out. They worked with the people there and took their time \u2026 They were... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F11%2F21%2Fstate-of-emergency-highlights-bigger-regional-issue-says-executive-director%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>State of emergency highlights bigger regional issue, says executive director - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/21\/state-of-emergency-highlights-bigger-regional-issue-says-executive-director\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"State of emergency highlights bigger regional issue, says executive director - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Marissa Lentz-McGrath, Local Journalism Initiative, TimminsToday.com TIMMINS &#8211; With encampments being dismantled in Timmins and overcrowding worsening in remote communities, Mushkegowuk Council says its newly declared state of emergency reflects a crisis that has long been ignored. Mushkegowuk Council CEO Vern Cheechoo spoke with TimminsToday about why the council formally declared a state of emergency on Nov. 17, calling the crisis \u201congoing\u201d and worsening across the region. Cheechoo said the decision came as Timmins worked to dismantle an encampment because of snow removal operations, with the city initially setting a Nov. 14 timeline to relocate residents. \u201cThey were afraid that someone could get hurt,\u201d he said. \u201cBut they didn&#8217;t come in there and force anybody out. 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