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- New Timmins 2020 Steering Committee Announced
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Timmins 2020 
Timmins was the worst experience of my life. Fly by night contractor ripped me off for $1500. Cops did nothing. Had 6 cartons of cigarettes stolen from my car. The kids came back with a screwdriver when I locked it. My co workers were horrible. I had an accident at the 101 plaza where the garage door closed on my car and they said too bad..didn’t you see the sign? They admitted they just took the sign down. I could go on. I left.
I’m sorry to hear your experience wasn’t more positive. It sounds as though you had a terrible run of luck. I hope that the community you’re living in now is offering you a better experience.
Let’s take a took at this from a technical perspective, we all want to manage a city system, based on these “dimensions” which should simply be termed, the necessities of life, aside from the economic growth part which is a completely absurd direction considering, economic growth is actually inverse to industrial efficiency, the well being of people and the quality of social relations, among many other negative symptoms of income inequality, how should we ACTUALLY start to build or manage a city? How far has technology taken us in the past 100 years? Can we possibly build a self sustainable city? Well the answer is yes, we can harness our own clean energy with wind mills and solar power that can generate enough electricity to power a city, we can grow our own food in a fully automated facility, we can build houses that are free of any negative aspect such as being vulnerable to certain weather conditions and so on…. I can go on for hours about how corrupt this system is, there are over a billion people starving, but hey! that’s cost efficiency! that’s us sucking the blood out of our own fellow human beings, a 6th of the worlds population is STARVING TO DEATH!, HALF of the world lives on less than 2 dollars a day! All of you who really want to know how a city should be designed, it is by scientists and engineers, not by politicians and others who have no idea how things work, their frame of reference blinds them from the original reality…….. research The Venus Project, the Atlas City project, The Zeitgeist Movement. Imagine not working, enjoying life, not being slaves to the corporations in power! It is no measure of health, to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society! Together we are strong!
My suggestions is related to the latest update posted and specifically on the table shown. it is a bit confusing as to what you mean with “dimension”, the colored bloacks on the right. More explanation on how those categories were chosen for each strategic direction would be helpful.
For example the 4th strategic direction, the first words are “cultural-linguistic diversity…” yet “Culture” was not chosen as a dimension. Same goes for the 3rd strategic direction. Business development can occur in ALL dimensions, environment, social and cultural.
More information on how to read and use this table would be appreciated. Thanks
Hi Coral,
Thanks for your question, it’s a good one.
Research shows that there are five dimensions to a solid strategic plan: Many people assume that strategic planning is only about Economic issues, but it should also address cultural, political, environmental and social concerns. Based on the public consultations, and the research we have done on what works best with community strategic plans, we saw five themes, or “strategic directions” emerge from all of the information we collected. These directions are areas that we recommend the community (not just the City) focus on in the next ten years. Ideally, the directions are broad “project areas” that would take priority when the community is deciding how to spend money or allocate resources.
The coloured blocks beside each direction are meant to show that all five dimensions of good strategic planning (Pol-S0c-Eco-Env-Cul) are covered by the five directions that emerged as a result of the Timmins process.
You are certainly right that there should be elements of all five dimensions in each of the five strategic directions for Timmins, but we have identified only the main ones to show that each direction has a solid footing in at least one of the five planning dimensions. I think when you mention the “cultural linguistic diversity” phrase you are actually referring to the 5th strategic direction, which is to Strengthen our Social Fabric…this one does indeed address the cultural dimension of strategic planning.
I hope that clarifies things a bit better; please get in touch again if you’d like more info.
The process. An absolutely fundamental piece of this Timmins 2020 exercise is a round of public consultations to review the report before it is submitted to council. The report MUST reflect public inoput and not the input of the myriad council members and members of administration who took part. Otherwise, public involvement was fruitless and sadly, pointless.
Thanks for your comment. One of the goals of this project is to make sure that the community has as many opportunities to get involved as possible, and that everyone is kept informed about the process. We’re really pleased that more than 700 people contributed ideas during the public consultation process…we had people from 18-80 years old, people from the francophone and aboriginal communities, volunteers, non-profit organizations, government, business owners, and members of the general public. Research on strategic planning suggests that you need to have as wide a representation as possible, including leaders and administrators…after all, they’re the ones responsible for implementing the plan, so it’s really important to get their involvement too.
We’ve now posted the results of the consultations on our Progress Reports page. We’ve published the vision and mission statements that set the context for the planning sessions there, too. Finally, we’ve posted five strategic directions that emerged from our analysis of the data. These five directions evolved from more than 3,000 suggestions and ideas that came out during the public consultations. We haven’t yet got all of the specific projects and tactics developed as that is an ongoing process…there’s a lot of information to get through, and then we need to look at best practices to see how those ideas could be implemented here. The important thing at this stage was to find out which main areas to focus on, and then to develop some criteria to help narrow down all of the ideas.
I moved my family to Timmins in 1995 to provide them more opportunities. We purchased a house here in Timmins, and tried to fit into the community. As a First Nation family from the north, it opened the door for my son’s and my wife. The education system was a definite improvement — so are the policing services (but of course I’m slightly biased) — the roads — the health care system — and the politics is much better. I know that people in Timmins do have their sore points about Timmins, but we love Timmins. Compared to living in Moose Factory, everything is better, except I miss family, but we expected that and we have adjusted very well. I also like Timmins because the leadership (both the Council and within business community) are always looking forward and planning. As long as that leadership is there, planning for the future will occur and the future of Timmins will remain bright. I think the people of Timmins are very fortunate.
Two-thirds of the First Nation population in this country live off-reserve and it will grow as long as the services and conditions on-reserve weaken, and deteriorate. Timmins must prepare for the growing numbers of First Nation people to this centre. The City and the business community must work close with the Timmins aboriginal people and their organizations to plan for more social housing, job training, education, etc. The other part the City, the business community and the aboriginal population has to prepare for is the intolerance and discrimination that is definitely out there. It goes both ways — and it is an ugly reality. I have experienced racism a number of times, and I can tell you that it really hurts.
Education, tolerance and understanding — that will be the key for the aboriginal people, the City, the business community, and the people of Timmins, to co-exist, and to make this City grow stronger and to continue to have a bright future.
I agree that discrimination is a major issue that needs to be addressed and resolved someway, and the sad part is that there seems to be no legal entity out that will deal with any discrimination cases except the Human Rights of Ontario. I think Timmins would be better off if there were ways to deal with it “in house”, instead of having to force others to get out of city attorneys to deal with stuff that is here.
I agree, but I wasn’t suggesting we get lawyers involved etc. I think there has to be more education on the legal and constitutional issues, the social issues, and the structures FN people live with. I think education and understanding is key to breaking down the barriers.
There are alot of parking problems throughout the city. And there are also alot of buildings that are either abandoned because they are to old to use or have fallen into arrears with taxes. So why not tear down a few buildings and add a few strategically placed parking lots, most importantly if you add some parking lots make sure there are some accessible parking spaces in each of those lots.
I’ve read many of the great suggestions that the others have provided. I have a few of my own. Unfortunately I have been unable to attend the sessions, timing, busy with three young children. However, I definitely wanted to share a few ideas on this site in the hopes that they may be read by others. Both my husband and I were born and raised here. We both went away to earn our educations and then returned to Timmins. Timmins is a great place BUT it can be an even better place. I would first like to say that it’s wonderful that young students can obtain some degrees and diplomas at either Northern College, College Boreal or through Laurentian at the Northern College Campus. However, Timmins needs to advocate and have serious considerations on how to bring a University Campus to Timmins. I’m not talking a satelite campus but an actual university. It’s a huge undertaking but how can this city keep youth here and attract youth to this city for the future??? I agree that continuing to beautify and bring outdoor attractions and recreational facilities to the city will make the city more attractive to everyone. We need to think outside the box and ask ourselves “what will bring people here”, “what will keep people here” and “what will make our city continue to grow and prosper?” I’m amazed that I haven’t heard anything about an aggressive committee already working on how they will work aggressively and diligently on competing for the location for the “Ring of Fire processing plan”. Who’s working on this? Is anyone working on this? Why is it that the public doesn’t here anything until it’s too late and the project has gone elsewhere? I recently watched the news from North Bay and they have undertaken a huge project on energy production from their garbage. Why can’t we do that? It’s an investment but one that pays off! Someone earlier suggested that solar panels be put on more traffic lights. These are ideas that save money, save our planet and think about the future. I was happy to hear that they will be investigating uses for the Shania Twain Centre. A facility which would house the Orchestra or other concerts or music schools and theatre could be potential uses for the building. It would require expansion but think of the theatre festivals, concerts, and other events that could happen there or be attracted to the city. In addition to the ideas that I’ve provided I feel that each individual in the city should have a vote in each councillor position in the city. The ward system should be eliminated and the citizens should be able to vote for all the positions during an election. Suggestions by citizens should be accepted publicly all the time not just a vision meeting blitz. There should be times alotted during each council meeting in the city where they publicly take suggestions from residents on how to make Timmins a better place and their responses should be made publicly. There needs to be more transparency in good and BAD choices, the people of the city have a right to know. I believe that the recent suggestions on making the city an 8-80 city are important but finding a balance is important because what keeps an 80 year old here and what will attract an 18 or 28 year old professional are not the same!!!! My children recently commented as we passed Grants, “mommy what’s that building and why is nobody there?” I didn’t know how to answer that but it made me sad “such a big facility and forestry was such a huge part of the city, there has to be something they can do with the faciltiy even if a retrofit was required and an investment. What could possibly be produced there?” I am fortunate to work as a health professional at the hospital and am proud to say that our facility continually looks at how we can grow each program and expand the services we provide to the people of Timmins and the surrounding area. Why can’t the same growth occur in each sector of the community? We keep going to outside organizations to study and figure out our problems. There must be people within our community who are capable of doing so!!!! I’m sure there are grants, various fundings and monies available to apply for that could go to the city. Does the city have someone that investigates funding and grants available? It should at least be made easy for groups and organizations to find these grants and funding. Can there be something available on the TEDC or city websites that contains grants and funding available that groups, businesses and organizations can apply for? Timmins should be advocating to make the city smoke-free! Many cities have why can’t we. I was at the park with my kids and there in front of us was an adult smoking despite all the kids around. Whenever I can politely make it obvious that they should be doing so I will but I think the city needs to push for a “Smoke Free Timmins” not smoking cessation because that’s just a bandaid. Making Timmins a smoke-free place makes it more attractive for the majority.
I agree with you on most things except the smoke free Timmins. I don’t smoke, but to eliminate smoking completely is against human rights.
Go Green Go Green Go Green!!! Create a Timmins Youth Environmental group and give students the opportunity to complete their ‘mandatory’ volunteer hours by helping to make our community a more beautiful and ecofriendly place (maintaining walking trails,parks and recreational areas such as outdoor rinks/pools etc. as mentioned above). The implementation of more solar panels, wind turbines and other sources of reusable energy within the communtiy, could create jobs for manufacturers/suppliers and people who install them etc. Any “Green Project” is bound to create some buzz. This would also raise community interest in reusable energy, in turn boosting local economy with a rising need for these types of systems (i.e. more interest=more sales+more jobs as well as a cleaner greener timmins. How can you lose??
We need to have a dog park (enclosed for little Fido`s protection).
We need some safe walking trails in city ( bear free )
More activities for teens to do to get them from just HANGING in the streets
Would be nice to have a few water fountains around Gilles lake to honor those who accually make the efffort to walk around the lake.
Sidewalks down Maclean (past Victoria st.) are an apposolute nessessity im in a wheel chair and almost get hit daily trying to get to the store or uptown. Dont wait until someone is badly hurt or killed to get a sidewalk in.
I have two ideas for Timmins.
1. Build a super trail around our perimeter. This trail could be used for funraising events like Baha races in the spring or fall. It could bring back some major automotive testing for cars and trucks of the future. Even the army could train on a trail like ours. This trail could host world class mountain bike or motorcross events all of wich could be filmed. We have a wide variety of challenging terrains for every level of trail or race enthusiast. Racing oin the edge of open pit mines and through some tight bunny trails down hills and mud well Timmins is your place. Timmins is my home town and I know that Timmins is huge when it comes to size. A super trail that could accomodate walkers, bikers, motorcross and 4×4 racers would bring in alot of money for our community and be alot of fun.
2. Timmins community center. Should house everything youth and old can have fun doing during our long winter months. Bowling, arcardes, playlands, indoor skake and bike courses, dance hall and cafeteria. Somewhere people are aloud to HANG OUT. Public Music studios or film editing for budding producres, art galery.
The BEST location for this is on top of airport road in the grass by the old age home. Redevelop that area for this. This would be the most profitable area to build such a building for many reasons. All the schools, arena, melrose our Timmins tourism office could be there so that people in from the airport would see this fabulous community center as they enter our city. Don’t go hide our fun places in a golf course or something silly now. Location Location Location !
Thanks for considering these ideas.
I believe that even though it would be costly at first, putting mini solar panels ontop of all the street lights in town would save the town money in the long run. If the street lights and trail lights could charge all day from the sun and then used during the night, we would be saving a great amount of energy and money.
Great initiative.
Timmins needs to be recognized and be a place people want to move and raise a family.
– outdoor rinks and basketball courts need to be all over the city.
– outdoor skating pad for family skates.
– roller blading paths.
– recycling needs to be manditory for businesses to promote and make available.
– the hospital policy not allowing father to stay with new born and assist mother is out of date. Fathers deserve to stay with family.
– road are too rough
– downtown parking fees need to be eliminated and business promoted in the core.
– the indigenous community needs to recognized and promoted to frequent the city.
– need hotel space to attract conferences.
-too many businesses make accepting status card difficult – pushes less spending.
Thanks 10sunrises. If you get a chance, it would be great to hear your ideas on how the City could better recognize and promote the City to Aboriginal individuals. Hope to see you at one of the public information sessions.
My only concerns with having outdoor rinks, basketball courts and outdoor skating pads all over the city is, 1) They need to be accessible so everyone can enjoy them. 2) They need some kind of roof over them so that rain, hail, snow and any other kind of weather doesn’t destroy them. Having a roof over them would also provide shade so that if the sun is very hot it doesn’t dehydrate people or burn everyone’s skin.
Maintaining (shovelling/ cleaning) these outdoor rinks and courts etc would provide a good source for students to gain their mandatory community hours.
All City, owned buildings, retail stores, private and public businesses big or small need to install surveillance cameras and keep them on at all times. This would create jobs for those who install and maintain them plus by having them on all the time it would help to prevent crimes, or help the Timmins Police Service to catch thieves, and people who start fights against others for no reason.
Brad, I think this idea is the opposite of what we need to achieve in Timmins. We need to move away from creating a police state instead of moving forward towards one. Surveillance cameras do not prevent crime and at best they move crime to other neighbourhoods (I do not want to bore everyone with the documentary record but if you absolutely want it, I’ll post it) Yes, it would create jobs for security companies but then tax dollars that would normally go to positive social programs, such as more public transportation funding for people with disabilities, would be wasted on these cameras.
Instead of turning Timmins into London, England with a network of closed circuit televisions, we should work on revitalizing the downtown in order to make it a friendly and safe public space where people want to congregate. As more and more people congregate in our vibrant public spaces, there will be a disincentive for criminal elements to rock the boat.
James, Instead of discussing it here, I would like to meet you at one of these meetings to discuss this issue further. The next meeting I’m going to attend will be Digital Economy, Thursday, June 16, from 9 a.m. to noon. Hope to see you then.
How About This
All City, owned buildings, retail stores, private and public businesses big or small need to install renewable energy systems. This would create jobs for those who install and maintain them plus by having them on all the time it would help shape timmins into a more ecofriendly community with a more ecofriendly reputation, despite the fact that mining is our main source of economy.
Let’s keep it simple, so here I go:
Timmins Top Ten (in no particular order)
1. cottaging
2. Chez Nous
3. hockey (and the accessibility of ice surfaces)
4. people (welcoming and friendly)
5. punk/hardcore scene
6. Gillies Lake (and in general the proximity to lakes)
7. family life (or the ability to raise a family)
8. commute (or lack of) to work
9. availability of child care
10. parks and the great outdoors
Timmins Bottom Ten (in no particular order)
1. West End Retail District (too many box stores)
2. Downtown Timmins
3. restaurants (too many chains/fast food places offering the exact same thing)
4. independent record stores (I really miss CD Hotel)
5. people (close-mindedness to new ideas)
6. lack of diversity in employment choices
7. lack of participation in the political process (few people vote and there has been less then 25 people at the three sessions that I attended)
8. distance to major centres (Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal…)
9. anglo VS franco
10. mosquitos/black flies
Request:
Everyone, please attend at least one of the Timmins 2020 sessions. This is our little slice of democracy and, if we do not take advantage of it, we will simply be painting over the rust instead of making things better.
These sessions need to be put into context: The Mac Ballroom is our Tahrir Square and luckily for us, the mukhabarat (secret police) are not shooting at us yet.
Awesome comment!
You’re absolutely right…this is a great chance for everyone to have a voice in how our City will make decisions over the next ten years.
Boat Launch is really nice
Police building is state of the art
Police service in Timmins is 2nd to none
Police Pipe and Drum, awesome.
Library building is amazing, very beautiful,something to be proud of.
The City of Timmins needs ONE central community calendar. Right now there is one on City site, one on tourism site, one on NorthernTel site, one here, one there and for some reason the Chamber of Commerce calendar is the most populated general public events calendar. Having one events calendar would eliminate conflicts and provide residents and tourist alike with one central repository of all events in Timmins. It should be made so that organizations in the city can copy and paste the HTML link to their own sites so they can have a the calendar on their site as well. It should be made so that many organizations: Chamber, TEDC, YMCA, Hockey, Soccer, Social Clubs, TDH, Schools, etc… can all have access to post. Perhaps one moderator to simply approve submissions. This would also help local businesses. Motels and retail would know when 500 hockey players are coming to town for the annual tournaments etc…
I don’t understand why mail is still sent to the townships of Schumacher and South Porcupine. Mail is not sent to Tisdale or Mountjoy. We amalgamated the City a long time ago, all street names are different, let’s all have Timmins, ON in our mailing addresses. This is confusing to anyone not from Timmins. Will go a long way to promoting civic pride and may play a part in the silly three hockey association problem in Timmins.
The recent use of the McIntyre arena to house Leisure Services was a fantastic idea. I see that we have been having more and more City functions in that great building.
Manufacturing, stop our reliance on primary industry. I keep saying let’s start making toilet paper (example of course) If we had one large manufacturing plant this could create many jobs and we could tap into the large aboriginal work force as well perhaps.
Alcoholism is an elephant that has been in the room for a long time in our City. The Stats do not lie. Although the PHU has started I find that we need some major campaigns and education concerning the dangers of binge drinking.
We need some type of new permanent attraction. I am not talking an event. I am talking like a Science North, a Mining Museum, a Casino (sorry I said it), something that we can be proud of. Something the Chamber tourism staff can tell a person to go see that walks into the office from Poland and wants to do something in Timmins for three days. This was is hard I know.
What can we do to revive the forestry industry. The mills are there, the workers are there, the wood is there.
Hollinger Park, Pavillion and water park is AMAZING! What a beautiful city park. Grand stands may have to be looked at sometime soon.
The TSO, what a beautiful group. I am extremely proud of them.
Civic Pride day!
Congratulations to the 100th anniversary committee, the celebrations have been appropriate.
The new Museum, will be fantastic. Karen and Chris certainly have their work cut out for them in the next little while but it seems to be shaping up to become something that will honour our heritage.
The TEDC has become a vital part of our business community. Their services and programs are really great. I think that many young people are exploring entrepreneurship because of the assistance and promotion of the TEDC. I think that as the baby boomers hand over the reigns of some of the local businesses that the YPs will continue to require the assistance and expertise of the TEDC. In summary, keep funding the TEDC.
As far as education goes, if we want English speaking youth to stick around we do need an English university. Why not use the satellite model that Université de Hearst has been using for the past 15+ years?
The Northern College expansion is amazing.
It would be nice if we could amalgamate the South Porcupine Winter Carnival with the LaRonce Carnaval to have one big one. Let’s celebrate together and have one big February bash!
The new Collège Boréal is beautiful.
Leisure services is very important to the residents of our city. From touch football, to soccer, to marathons etc… I think what we are lacking is the communications of what is available in our City. Two years ago, there was the first leisure services booklet produce that showed in pictures and in writing the amazing leisure opportunities in the City. I think we need to take a look at that booklet and build upon it and continue to release one of those year after year. Or on the web as well that is fine as long as everything is in there like coin club, Cadets, model plain club, ski runners, Kamiscotia, golfing etc…
HOCKEY – We are truthfully a HOCKEY town in Timmins. I know there is talk of closing an arena. I know that user fees have been raised and will continue to be raised until 2013. I don’t have all of the solutions but I do know that whatever must be done to keep hockey vibrant in our City must be done. Having three hockey associations in one community is ridiculous and it creates massive conflicts and prevents a proper schedule from being released. If we had one associations and we worked closely with the City perhaps we could come to the conclusion that 4 pads would work for all organized and recreational hockey, ringette and figure skating in Timmins, I am not sure. But I do know that we have to work together. If hockey becomes too expensive and registrations continue to decline not only because of a change in population but because of $ that would be absolutely awful as hockey is extremely important to Timmins.
Infrastructure. I find that the City has been VERY GOOD at keeping the pulse of the traffic and roads in Timmins. Sure we have our pot holes but we also have a massive land wise city. The streets are clean, our snow removal is 2nd to none, we are in good shape. Do we remember when there was no turning lane from Algonquin onto 655 or from Algonquin to Thériault Boulevard? Lights on Thériault great! Advanced green on Shirley/Riverside and other places great. The lights are timed and traffic flows nicely in Timmins. Anyways I think this is under control.
Our hospital is absolutely amazing. I personally have never waited longer than 15 minutes (knock on wood) the last two times I have been in the emerg. The hospital is well run and I am proud of its look, reputation, track record and services.
EVENTS – Everyone says we need more. The City has been making efforts towards that and it has been great! The Kayak challenge, the 100th efforts, the Santa Parade, the Fireworks, this summer’s Urban Park (BIA), the Nova Awards (Chamber), the Concert series etc…. We have been much better in this area and organizations continue to invent new Events and build upon old one’s. (Sass in the city, RibFest, home Show, sportsman show, craft show, etc….)
Garbage in our city is really well run. Kudos on the new system coming which will make things really convenient for residents and will save money. The landfill is extremely well run and clean and congrats on the scales.
Downtown has been slowly improving over the last decade. With the subsidies for face lifts many businesses look great. The revitalization project has been moving forward step by step. Moving the transit SUPER IDEA, congrats. The downtown BIA has very vibrant staff at the moment and idea like the Urban Park – Farmer’s Market are great and are simply another step towards getting the downtown to where everyone envisions it. Congrats keep up the good work!
Groups like the Timmins Young Professionals and the PUWs GenNext are amazing new initiatives.
Beautification, of course more can always be done but seriously, I find our city clean and presentable. The flowers are always a nice touch. Honestly though, let’s get the wreath off of our most important landmark, the headframe, it looks awful with it on there. Otherwise I am satisfied with the look of our city. We have many beautiful buildings and projects like the community garden are amazing. Timmins get clean and other initiative like high school city clean ups has made a huge difference as far as beautification goes. I wonder if we could pull off a 2 hours city wide clean up where all schools, all businesses, all City workers, all government employees, etc… agree to go outside and EVERYONE cleans-up for 2 full hours. That would be amazing. We could stop city buses, stop everything shut doors and go clean. Wonder if it would work? Could be done on April 22nd, earth day. Could be a big media coverage thing for our city, showing the example, maybe even National news. Rick would certainly be happy.
I would really like to sit down and explore the idea of ward system vs the committee system. I have heard too many times that the was system is antiquated and that a committee system would be more effective for our City.
Tourism. We have lots to offer but unfortunately I can’t remember when we have had an appropriate booklet or map to give to tourist. Take a quick look at the OWR tourism magazine and website. I think we need to follow their model, their inspiration and get something decent produced to provide to tourist. We seem to rely on the Chamber to produce tourism material. Let’s take the 101 things to do in Timmins flier and make it into a nice booklet or magazine with a bunch of pictures. I believe that some clean-up and organization in this area is much needed. There is much to do, show me!
Heritage, we are good hands. We are good at naming buildings, parks, airports and events after important past residents. Once the new location of the museum is up and running I think we will be proud of it. The look back into the past segments in the Daily Press our fantastic. The 100th website is really nice. GOOD WORK!
Telecommunications. I believe that the City of Timmins should attempt to be ahead of the curb on this issue. I believe that the City should partner with NEOnet Inc. and the local providers to set a goal of 10Mps rate of high speed internet by 2015 for the City of Timmins
Snow removal in our City works like clockwork. No change required.
The trail system in Timmins is really well done! However, we need to promote it more. The old timminsoutdoors.ca site is dated and the Chamber trail system brochure is a couple years old. Furthermore, the Conservation trail maps are also a bit dated. It would be nice to have arial shots of the trails or google earth type shots in a nice package. Let’s promote this trail system that can bring you pretty much in and around the entire City!
There is a lack of a non-profit, social services Directory. The old yellow 2007 volunteer timmins Directory was an extremely helpful tool. I am not sure who can do it, but it would be really nice to have an up to date directory online. Ex: I move to town, I want to join Cadets, or toastmasters, or playing card club or the bridge club or the singles club, where do I find this information. Leisure services has a list that has been photocopied over and over and is a bit dated I believe. We need something better. People say there is nothing to do but I don’t believe that is the fact I believe it is simply the fact that there is a lack of communications of what there is to do. This would go hand in hand with the central community calendar idea.
Cultural clubs are fantastic in Timmins. Whatever can be done to continue to support the Dante Club, LaRonde, the Polish club and others should be done.
Real Estate prices are affordable here in my opinion.
Water is good and reasonably priced. I have never had an issue with the quality of water and supply of water coming from the taps.
I wonder if we could get Porter Airlines to come to Timmins, so there is at least some competition and perhaps that would lower pricesw.
I think we need to be better marketing (REAL INNOVATIVE MARKETING) ourselves as the regional shopping centre. Ex; Could we not provide a free night’s stay in Timmins for any resident from North Eastern Ontario or the coast if they can prove they spent more than $500 during their stay (might be a bad example but I am talking about packages, deals etc…) Something that would make them come more often. Let’s promote, Canadian Tire, Home Depot, Micheal’s, WalMart, Timmins Square, 101 Mall, downtown, Hollinger Court, Park Road Square etc…. Put in all in one nice brochure or page on the City website. Make it looks inviting. Shop local campaign can go hand and hand.
Anyways, I apparently have lots to say I will try and take in as many sessions as possible. I love Timmins, I have always lived here and I plan living here all my life. I think we have done great things here in the last 20 years, I think we are in a good position and I am happy that we are taking the time to put together a plan to make our City even better in the next decade.
Thanks for submitting these suggestions….and it’s really nice to see the comments about the great things the City already has. We look forward to seeing you at the public sessions.
Manufacturing is an awesome idea, and we certainly have the resources nearby to do toilet paper taht is for sure. However it is my belief that timmins would do well as an ecofriendly community, Imagine a self sustaining community, Im not saying we would get there over night or even come 2020, but steps could certainly be taken in that direction. this could also create “green” tourism within the community as well as raise environmental awareness within our youth…. In regards to education, we should be teaching our kids the fundamentals of REAL life. Intead of preparing them to go off into the stockmarket and other ridiculous jobs/industries we should be taking advantage of our natural environment and teaching them about renewable energies/ agriculture/ hunting/ fishing/ wilderness safety/ basic survival and homemaking skills.
We Need more affordable housing in Timmins, the current waiting list for Timmins Housing is around 7 years. If our community is going to move forward we need more apartment buildings and homes. If you look at other city’s such as Sudbury, Northbay there is a lot more affordable homes. If you are seeking a home for rent in Timmins you are looking at paying top dollar price ranging from $1000.00 – 1200.00 utilities not included. Now as for the Shania Twain center it needs to be turned into something like a museum for Timmins considering no one uses it. If mayor and council move forward with the Shania Twain center staying open i think we need a new government for our city. We have wasted over 10 years into this building at a cost of one million dollars per year. I would really enjoy hearing other peoples creative ideas for the center as well as this housing issue in Timmins.
I think the Shania Twain Center would be put to better use as a building that holds many different aspects of history surrounding the Timmins area, for example mining, forestry, local celebrities as well as the Timmins Museum. Timmins is also in desperate need of another hotel and conference center. This area would pose as an interesting site, and many different tours could be offered. A Building/Business endeavor such as this could create a lot of jobs and would bring many different visitors to our community. Another idea for this site would be to create a “historical park” in which people act out the days of a miner at the time the mine was created. I realize this is already being done to some degree, but im sure it could be done on a larger scale as mining is still one of Canada’s leading industries. Fort William Historical Park in Thunder Bay is recognized as one of the Top Ten Attractions in Canada and one of the world’s most impressive historic sites.
Another Idea would be to add a section of museum dedicated to Canada’s long and rich mining history.
We need a recreational park with a variety of different foliage and flora accented with decorational water fountains and murals. Designated spaces for dog owners to bring their pets without a leash. Benches and picnic tables and a public venue to bring more cultural entertainment to the city for ALL ages. Or, a face-lift to many of the parks already located within the City of Timmins.
…. the city should turn the Shania Twain center into the Timmins Museum. Consolidating the buildings would be cost efficient!
Hello there, thanks for the comment. The City is just finishing renovations to the OLS building and the Timmins Museum will be housed there from now on. You’re right about the consolidation concepts though…if you can think of other forms of consolidation please submit them!
We need wheelchair accessiable cabs back in the city as it would lighten the load of the bus system.
Hi Brad, thanks for your input. These ideas will be forwarded to the Health and Social Services section.
Just curious, how exactly would the Health and Social Services section address my transportation issue?
HI Brad, I think that Health and Social Services advocates would be interested in looking at that issue in more detail because it speaks directly to public accessibility issues. Although we do have a specific “transportation” consultation, the accessibility issue cuts across many different sectors, including youth, seniors, health & social services, etc.
We need recreational activities and services for people with disabilities as most places around the city demand that people with disabilities being accompanied by someone.
We need to purchase at least one more bus for the Handi Trans, as the last 8-9 months it has been very difficult to arrange transportation for appointments and for door to door services for all other uses within specified time frames.
We should have a bowling alley that includes people with disabilities who have a hard time or unable to climb stairs.
We should have services available for people infected/affected with/by HIV.
Hi, thanks for your comment. Could you be more specific about what kinds of services local people living with HIV/AIDS could use, and who might be involved in offering them? Any information you can add would be helpful.