By: Pam Wright, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Chatham Voice
As winter deepens, Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OCBMs) are urging the province to declare a state-of-emergency regarding homelessness, mental health and addiction.
The mayors of the largest 29 cities in the province – including Chatham-Kent – passed a motion recently calling on governments to take action on what they say is a “community safety and humanitarian crisis.”
Mayor Darrin Canniff believes the trio of problems are Chatham-Kent’s greatest challenge.
“In a nutshell, that’s what our biggest issue is and if you talk to any mayor, with any sort of population, they have the exact same issues we do,” Canniff explained. “As a society, we have to do something. What we’re doing now is not working.”
The OBCMs want to see more funding allocated to municipalities to deal with the issues. According to the group, member cities paid for more than half of the $4.1 billion spent on homelessness and housing programs in 2024.
Canniff said the mayors’ group uses the 2003-04 SARS crisis as an example of Ontario declaring a state-of-emergency, noting the trifecta of homelessness, addictions and mental health affect is impacting far more people.
“The municipalities spend millions and the province spends millions and it’s not enough,” Canniff said. “There’s a huge problem and it’s only going to get worse…it’s not as though it’s going to fix itself. We need to act and we need to act across the board.”
Because the problem is so complex it has to be looked at from “A to Z,” Canniff said, including how people get addicted and access the drug supply in the first place.
A lack of treatment facilities for those individuals compounds the problem, he added.
Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward, OBCMs caucus chair, has stated it’s not sustainable for cities to keep funding the issue at the current rate, noting municipalities continue to commit resources because it’s not acceptable for leaders who care for people to not take action.
In speaking to the recent death of a resident at Chatham’s Pathways on Park tiny cabins shelter, Canniff said it’s something that can occur when dealing with a high-risk population.
“We’re trying to help people get back on their feet but things are going to happen,” he said.
In response to the OBCM request, the province said it has spent more than $2 billion on supportive and affordable housing to create more shelter spaces, including through the Homelessness Prevention Program.
Plus, the province is spending around $550 million to create 28 homelessness and addiction recovery treatment (HART) hubs. Windsor and Sarnia were both approved for a HART hub but Chatham-Kent’s application was not.
Citing a report by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario released earlier this year, the mayors’ caucus said there is a need to invest $11 billion towards ending homelessness over the next 10 years.
