QP Briefing has learned the province’s big city mayors’ caucus is debating passing a motion asking the provincial and federal governments to take on “intervenor status” in future court cases that could restrict their communities’ ability to regulate and prohibit encampments, and Ottawa is no exception.
Although the motion will not be debated for a few weeks, Sutcliffe said Wednesday that he’s been in a number of conversations with the mayors’ caucus and “supports the idea” of calling on the federal and provincial governments for more support.
“I think what we’ve seen in the last couple of years is that the challenge that larger cities like Toronto and Ottawa have been facing, those challenges are now being felt in smaller and medium-sized communities in Ontario as well,” Sutcliffe told Ottawa Compass. “So there’s a real consensus around the table at the Ontario big city mayors that action is required.
“This is another example of the kind of challenge that municipalities can’t face on their own. These are big, big issues, and we need the support of other levels of government to deliver solutions.”
When it comes to Ottawa specifically, Sutcliffe said there’s a “long list” of issues the city is facing, concluding homelessness, affordable housing, the mental health crisis, the opioid crisis and the arrival of New Canadians, that “we don’t have the resources to tackle on our own.”
Conversations with the federal government have been ongoing, he said, but “we need more help than we’ve received so far.”
If passed by the big city mayors’ caucus, the motion would also call for an update of the Mental Health Act and the Health Care Consent Act to enforce mandatory treatment for addiction and some severe mental health cases, according to a copy of the draft motion viewed by QP Briefing.
A major goal of the motion appears to be pressing provincial and the federal governments to permit municipal regulation of encampments, advocating that courts should not dictate homelessness policies that override provincial and municipal authority.
It will be debated at the caucus’ next meeting on October 18.
In a news release in September, the Government of Canada said it is allocating $250 million, as outlined in the 2024 budget, to address encampments and homelessness across the country. The funding is meant to be cost-matched by provinces and territories.
In Ottawa, the City’s 2024 Budget outlines $204,384 allocated for housing services, down from the $206,426 spent in 2023 and $234,390 in 2022. Council will approve the 2025 budget in 2025.
According to data from the Ottawa Mission, the number of people living in shelters declined in 2020 and 2021 but rose again in 2022 and remains higher than it did 10 years ago with about 200 people reported to be sleeping unhoused. But the number of people in Ottawa needing support is rising, said Sutcliffe.
“We’re continuing to work with (the federal government), but we can’t handle these things on our own… We are helping a lot of people, but the problem is growing faster than the solutions we’re able to provide,” he said. “I think a lot of our residents are seeing the number of homeless people, suffering from the mental health crisis, experiencing substance use disorder… Even as we are helping people, that number is growing, so we need more resources to tackle these growing challenges.”
