‘One-off funding announcements’ not the way to fix homelessness and substance use, says Burlington mayor

A new campaign from a group of mayors representing Ontario’s largest cities is demanding the provincial government develop an action plan for homelessness, mental health, and substance use, while also telling the federal government it should be at the table because this is a national crisis. “There needs to be a comprehensive nationwide strategy,” said Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward in an Aug. 12 phone interview with Hill Times Health. “A funding announcement—which governments are really good at—is not an action plan. Investing in one community versus another through a funding stream is not an action plan.” An organization called Ontario’s Big City Mayors—which represents the 29 Ontario municipalities with populations over 100,000—officially launched the “Solve the Crisis” campaign on Aug. 8. The campaign includes a template letter that residents can sign which calls on the province to appoint a single minister to lead the development of a plan to tackle homelessness, mental health, and substance use. Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward, centre, announced the Ontario's Big City Mayors' campaign during a press conference at Queen's Park on Aug. 8. Also in attendance at the press conference were Camille Quenneville, CEO of the Canadian Mental Health Association-Ontario, left; Guelph Mayor Cam Guthrie; Waterloo Mayor Dorothy McCabe; and Colin Best, president of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario. Photo courtesy of Ontario's Big City Mayors Meed Ward, who chairs the mayors’ caucus, said a particular point of concern is the fact that Ontario cabinet minister Michael Tibollo, who serves as associate minister of mental health and addictions, doesn't have his own ministry. She described Tibollo as “very knowledgeable and very compassionate and committed,” but said he “doesn't have resources to direct action.” Meed Ward said this is a pressing crisis with at least 1,400 encampments across Ontario, and an even greater number of people experiencing homelessness—1,900 in Kingston, 1,700 in London (which has 56 encampments), and 1,592 in Hamilton, for example. The campaign’s website makes it clear that the mayors feel the federal government should also do more, calling on the “governments of Ontario and Canada to take immediate action,” and stating that the “federal government has not stepped up as promised.” The subjects forming the basis of the campaign have also become regular talking points for Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre (Carleton, Ont.), who has made many public statements decrying the federal Liberals’ housing and substance use policies. During a July 25 press conference in London, Ont., Poilievre blamed the presence of encampments in the city on high housing costs and the Liberals’ support for prescribed alternative substances known as “safer supply.” Poilievre has emphasized that a future Conservative government would only fund treatment and recovery services. Hill Times Health asked the office of Mental Health and Addictions Minister Ya’ara Saks (York Centre, Ont.) by email on Aug. 12 if she would be open to developing a national action plan, and if her government would be willing to speak with the mayors about their requests. Saks’ office did not provide a response by deadline. Hill Times Health posed similar questions to Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones whose office forwarded the request to Housing Minister Paul Calandra. An Aug. 12 emailed statement from Bianca Meta, Calandra’s press secretary, did not mention the mayors’ requests at all. Instead, it focused on her government’s funding. This includes $396-million over three years for mental health and addictions services announced in the province’s 2024 budget, and more than $240-million for shelter and homelessness supports for the cities of Ottawa and Toronto. Calandra’s spokesperson also took aim at the federal Liberals’ substance use policies, describing decriminalization of some drugs in British Columbia as “disastrous.” “We continue to call on the federal government to step up, pay their fair share and take more responsibility for the consequences of their policies that have escalated the number of individuals facing homelessness,” the statement reads. Hill Times Health Q + A with Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward During a half-hour conversation with Hill Times Health, Meed Ward elaborated on the need for more government support, and how the province and the federal Liberals can help. The following interview has been edited for length and clarity. Hill Times Health: Why did you and your fellow mayors feel this campaign is the right step? Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward: We're basically saying the time for talk is over, the time for action and a comprehensive plan that solves this crisis …This is something that is affecting big cities, small cities, urban, rural across the province, but really across the country. And so, this is something that the federal government also has a role to play in … We've been working on this issue for a number of years, trying to raise awareness and get action. And while there have been some steps taken—which we’re enormously grateful for—it's not a comprehensive action plan that's going to solve it. HTH: What are some of the components of this campaign? Marianne Meed Ward is the mayor of Burlington. Photo courtesy of Ontario's Big City Mayors Meed Ward: We've launched the solvethecrisis.ca web page, which outlines not only what we're asking for and why, but also the success we want … We want people to know that there is a way through this, but we need the government's help, and we need the public's help. I have constituents, see tents popping up in Burlington, calling me , ‘what are you doing for these people? What are you doing to solve this crisis?’ … And this is for the people that live in the encampments themselves are not ideal; they're not safe in many respects, and people aren't getting the supports that they need … We need those public voices to join us and tell the government the time for action is now. HTH: Can you describe the crisis as it's unfolding in your home city of Burlington? Meed Ward: We have certainly seen people putting up tents in our parks, in our ravines throughout the city, in some cases, in our downtown. It really started in part during the pandemic. We had people living on patios outside of our downtown restaurants … We have great agreements with local hotels where we will put folks up in a hotel until more permanent shelter has been arranged. So far, we've been able to manage it, but we know that it is a growing crisis … In Ontario alone, 1,400 encampments across the province. That's not the number of people living in encampments—that's 1,400 groupings of encampments across the province … I visited a supportive housing unit with Mayor Josh Morgan in London, Ont., very recently. There are 42 units there, but that's 42 out of the close to 2,000 individuals who need support. One of the individuals that we met was weeping about how much this meant to him. He said he'd lived on the streets for nine years in London … This is a humanitarian crisis. People are dying on our streets, and it doesn't need to be this way. HTH: You're asking for a single point of contact for housing, mental health and addictions. Meed Ward: We need … a single minister who has the authority and the resources to direct an action plan convene an action table of experts. Municipalities need to be at the table; health care providers, first responders, the health sector and many more need to be around that table to develop a comprehensive action plan ... What we've discovered through this is that there are upwards of 16 different provincial ministries that have some bearing on this issue … government has taken a step that no other government has taken by appointing Minister Tibollo to this file. That's a great first step. He's very knowledgeable and very compassionate and committed. He doesn't have a ministry. He doesn't have resources to direct action. He certainly can collaborate with the other 16 ministries, and we know that they do that … Take it to the next step: a single point of contact that can direct action that is properly resourced to get the job done. HTH: I want to talk about what you think the federal government can do. There’s a statement that is on the campaign website that reads, ‘the federal government has not stepped up as promised.’ What was that promise as far as you and the other mayors are concerned? Meed Ward: There needs to be a comprehensive nationwide strategy. A funding announcement—which governments are really good at—is not an action plan. Investing in one community versus another through a funding stream is not an action plan. We're grateful for the funding supports that the federal government has provided through, for example, the ‘Reaching Home’ or the Housing Accelerator Fund. These are allocation-based programs. You have to wait for a funding stream to open, hope you qualify based on the criteria, submit an application, hope that you're successful, hope that you get what you asked for. That is not a way to build a country; that is not a way to solve this crisis … What we're wanting to do is build, for example, supportive housing and wraparound support … It is very difficult for us to plan these multi-year major capital investments not knowing if the funding for the capital is going to be there and not knowing if the funding for the operating is going to be there … This is across the country, and people will migrate where the services are rather than get them in their own community, which is why one-off funding announcements are not the solution to this issue. HTH: Are you asking to build a national action plan that would encompass housing, mental health and addictions? Meed Ward: I think that's a great idea. Our campaign at the moment is focused on the provincial government … But when we talk about setting up an action table, the federal government must be at that table to talk about what is possible at a national level. So, we're asking Ontario to lead the way … Again, we have seen things that work in our own communities and so we know what works. The issue is getting enough resources to to scale those up to meet the level of need. HTH: We are talking about addictions, and the role it's playing in people unable to find housing, stay in housing, etc.…The federal Conservatives are being very public about what they would if they were in government, focusing on recovery. The federal government has chosen a broader harm reduction approach … In 2021, your group called for decriminalization … In 2024, does the Big City Mayors caucus have a stance on a recovery-focused approach versus a broader harm reduction one? Meed Ward: We have not taken a position as a caucus, and we believe that those are the kinds of conversations that the action table needs to deal with in terms of developing a comprehensive plan. The evidence will show what works or what doesn't work. It has to be based on the evidence in the field, which we have a lot of. And so we wanted to make sure that our campaign was singularly focused on we need a single person and we need an action plan and we need it now. lots of examples in our communities of what works, but get on with it. We don't want this to be … held up by those debates as an excuse to do nothing. Ontario’s Big City Mayors members (in alphabetical order) Ajax - Mayor Shaun CollierBarrie - Mayor Alex NuttallBrampton - Mayor Patrick BrownBrantford - Mayor Kevin DavisBurlington - Mayor Marianne Meed Ward (chair of Ontario’s Big City Mayors)Cambridge - Mayor Jan LiggetChatham-Kent - Mayor Darrin CanniffClarington - Deputy Mayor Willie WooGreater Sudbury - Mayor Paul LefebvreGuelph - Mayor Cam Guthrie (past chair of Ontario’s Big City Mayors) Hamilton - Mayor Andrea HorwathKingston - Mayor Bryan Paterson (treasurer of Ontario’s Big City Mayors)Kitchener - Mayor Berry VrbanovicLondon - Mayor Josh Morgan (vice-chair of Ontario’s Big City Mayors) Markham - Mayor Frank ScarpittiMilton - Mayor Gordon KrantzMississauga - Mayor Carolyn ParrishOakville - Mayor Rob Burton (secretary of Ontario’s Big City Mayors)Oshawa - Mayor Dan Carter Ottawa - Mayor Mark SutcliffePickering - Mayor Kevin AsheRichmond Hill - Mayor David West St. Catharines - Mayor Mat SiscoeThunder Bay - Mayor Ken BoshcoffToronto - Mayor Olivia ChowVaughan - Mayor Steven Del DucaWaterloo - Mayor Dorothy McCabeWhitby - Mayor Elizabeth RoyWindsor - Mayor Drew Dilkens tsanci@hilltimes.com The Hill Times Tessie Sanci is the executive editor of Hill Times Health, which provides in-depth coverage of federal health policy.

‘One-off funding announcements’ not the way to fix homelessness and substance use, says Burlington mayor

A group representing Ontario’s big cities is calling on the province to appoint a minister to lead a plan to tackle homelessness, mental health, and substance use, noting the federal government ‘has not stepped up as promised.’

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