Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall is one of the Ontario Big City Mayors (OBCM) behind a caucus motion calling for legislative changes to allow for a "system of mandatory community-based and residential mental health and addictions treatment" in response to the increasing number of homeless encampments in this province’s cities.
“We’re calling on the province and feds to take homelessness and encampments seriously and to use the necessary legislative measures that allow for municipalities like Barrie to maintain safety and security on our streets and in our parks,” Nuttall said in response to a series of email questions from BarrieToday.
The Barrie mayor, one of the movers of the OBCM motion, said it would be up to the province to decide how these measures are enforced.
The OBCM caucus is planning to vote on the motion at its Oct. 18 meeting.
OBCM is comprised of mayors of Ontario cities with populations of 100,000 or more and collectively, represent nearly 70 per cent of Ontario’s population. It provides a voice for big city mayors in policy debates that impact Ontario cities.
The OBCM caucus resolution suggests the provincial and federal governments invoke the notwithstanding clause to prevent likely constitutional challenges and ensure "that individuals in need are able to access treatment."
The notwithstanding clause, a section of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, gives provincial legislatures or Parliament the ability, through the passage of a law, to override certain portions of the charter for a five-year term.
The OBCM has declined to comment on the proposed resolution because its member cities have not had a chance to debate or vote on it.
Premier Doug Ford addressed the matter this week, saying encampments are “a big problem” whose inhabitants need to be moved “out of public spaces” and into permanent homes.
“Communities across the province, they're just they're beside themselves,” Ford said.
Barrie has a number of homeless encampments in or near many of its green spaces and city parks. There have been problems with garbage and litter, as well as fires in the tents and enclosures where people live.
Whether mandatory community-based and residential mental health and addictions treatment would have any effect on homeless encampments in Ontario cities is unknown.
Last month, the British Columbia government proposed to take people with addiction challenges, brain injuries and mental health issues to highly secure facilities, including those within the correctional system.
However, the Canadian Mental Health Association of British Columbia expressed reservations with B.C.’s plan. It said "there is a lack of evidence to support the effectiveness of involuntary treatment for people with substance use disorder" and that it may instead pose "an increased risk of death due to drug poisoning upon release."
— With files from The Trillium
