Family of man who died on St. Catharines streets calls for change

A vigil was held in St. Catharines, Ont., to commemorate Bob Allen, who died from hypothermia while homeless in January 2025. His sister, Elizabeth Allen, advocated for changes to the region’s winter emergency protocol during a council meeting, proposing to lower the activation temperature from -10 C to 0 C. Councillor Haley Bateman supported this motion, emphasizing the preventable nature of Allen’s death. The motion was deferred to a public health meeting on February 10, amid concerns about resource implications and the strain on local health services from increased emergency visits by homeless individuals during cold weather.