Hastings County is being asked to back a resolution calling on the province to work with partners to end homelessness.
The issue was raised at a meeting of Hastings County’s Community and Human Services Committee on Wednesday.
The Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) is the advocacy voice for municipalities in Ontario and is seeking support from municipal partners to call on the Government of Ontario to urgently acknowledge that homelessness is a social, economic and health crisis.
They also say that the Province should commit to ending homelessness in Ontario and work with AMO and the broad range of community, health, Indigenous and economic partners to develop, resource and implement an action plan to achieve this goal.
Director of Community and Human Services Connor Dorey told the committee the idea is to get the committees involved.
“AMO is looking to municipalities to adopt this resolution to continue the advocacy efforts to the province is something that we can see the change when we come at it from a joint effort.”
Committee member, Belleville Councillor Garnet Thompson, pointed to the mental health issue.
“Do you feel there’s enough in the motion to emphasize that if we don’t cure the mental health issue and get a facility, the Ontario government has to move to start looking at going back to the old way, years ago, where they had mental institutions.’
Dorey also noted, “The emphasis on this cross ministry and Minister of Health and the Ministry of Heath being included on this is something that’s paramount. When we look at homelessness and bringing all these different ministries to the table.”
He added, “There are many different reasons that somebody may end up homeless. Mental health is one of those, but that’s not to say that everyone experiencing homelessness is struggling with mental health or that everybody is experiencing mental health concerns is experiencing homelessness but when this resolution was proposed and put out an advocacy effort by the by AMO it really focuses on the cross ministry and recognition that homelessness is a result of many different issues and I would agree with that.”
The issue will go before County Council later this month.
