New provincial legislation will help cities including Brantford better deal with encampments, drug use in public and the homeless crisis, Mayor Kevin Davis says.
Advertisement 2
Article content
Article content
Recommended Videos
Article content
“I see it helping our community in a couple of ways, but one of the biggest benefits is the increase in funding for (housing) diversion,” Davis said. “Our housing staff, a couple of years ago, made a decision to put more resources into preventing people from becoming homeless.
“They work really hard at keeping people in their homes, or moving them into other permanent housing so that they don’t end up in a shelter.”
The mayor said that once vulnerable people get into the shelter system it becomes extremely difficult to get them out.
The work of the housing staff and the construction of new affordable and rent-geared to income housing has helped reduce the city’s housing wait list, Davis said.
Figures provided by the city show a steady decline in the housing wait list numbers since 2018 when there were 1,720 households on the list. As of June 30, 2024, there were 1,011 households on the list, a decrease of 41 per cent.
Advertisement 3
Article content
Davis made the comments after Premier Doug Ford announced new measures to deal with encampments at a Dec. 12 press conference.
Davis was among a group of Ontario mayors invited to attend the event at Queen’s Park in Toronto. He was also one of a group of mayors who have been pressing the first to provide more assistance to municipalities grappling with encampments, addictions and mental health issues.
Measures announced by the premier include $5.5 million to top up the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit to free up emergency shelter spaces for people living in encampments. The money can also be used to help those in shelters move into permanent housing.
The province is also providing $20 million to expand and create more shelter space and $50 million for ready-to-build affordable housing projects.
Advertisement 4
Article content
Other measures include steps to prevent the public consumption of illegal drugs and changes to the Trespass to Property Act.
“The changes to trespassing are needed and apply to those who are repeatedly trespassing,” Davis said. “It’s not about arresting people and putting them in jail.
“The idea is to create earthiness.”
Most people agree that open consumption of illegal drugs should not be allowed, Davis said.
“We don’t tolerate the open, public consumption of alcohol, a legal product,” Davis said. “Why would we tolerate the open consumption of illegal drugs?”
More money for shelter space is also welcome, Davis said.
“All of the cities that have a shelter system need more funding,” he said.
Kim Baker, executive director of SOAR Community Services, said the agency continues to advocate for a compassionate approach to people experiencing homelessness and struggling with substance use.
Advertisement 5
Article content
“We hope that the provincial government will significantly ramp up investments in our community to enhance supported housing with wraparound supports to ensure successful housing retention, including addiction services,” Baker said in a statement on behalf of SOAR. “We are dedicated to providing evidence-based care and are prepared to participate in outcome-based evaluation to ensure we are making a difference.
“We are always willing to collaborate with our municipal and provincial partners to implement improvements to social services that offer real solutions to these complex community issues.”
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association, in a statement, expressed concern with the new measures.
Advertisement 6
Article content
“The Canadian Civil Liberties is deeply concerned that the Ontario government is introducing measures that will criminalize unhoused people living in encampments,” Harini Sivalingam, director of the equality program at the CCLA, said in a statement following the premier’s announcement. “While relieved that the government is not, at this time, seeking to invoke the notwithstanding clause, we remain concerned about the future use to override fundamental rights and freedoms of unhoused people in Ontario.”
In November mayors, including Davis, raised the idea of using the notwithstanding clause of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms as a way of forcing those with severe addictions or mental health issues to get treatment.
Sivalingham said the homelessness crisis will not be solved through a “repetitive trespass” provision that will only criminalize unhoused people who have nowhere else to go.
All levels of governments need to work together to provide funding, resources and supports for meaningful solutions to end homelessness that respect fundamental rights and freedoms, Sivalingham said.
[email protected]
Article content