Oshawa Mayor Dan Carter highlighted key actions that the city has undertaken to be part of the solution to fight homelessness, including allocating funding, resources and staffing.
Speaking at the recent Ontario Association of Municipalities (AMO) annual conference to raise awareness of significant challenges Oshawa is facing, Mayor Carter said examples of the city’s actions to support residents and businesses include:
- Support for the Downtown Business community through additional lighting, security, addressing graffiti and garbage removal
- Daily sidewalk and road cleaning in the downtown
- Daily cleanup of street facing business entrances in the downtown
- Aid to private property owners with the removal of drug paraphernalia
- The city introduced new opportunities for downtown businesses to apply for the Community Improvement Plan grant for security and safety items
- It implemented beautification improvements in the downtown
- Proactive parks patrol and cleaning of trails and parks across the city
- Increased patrol 24/7 in the downtown by Municipal Law Enforcement Officers and Corporate Security Officers
- Oshawa Fire’s new specialized Rapid Response Unit combined with 20 additional firefighters to support quick and efficient response to overdose calls
Mayor Carter’s underlying message was the need for all levels of government to work together to find solutions to challenges and issues that municipalities are facing.
For Key Issues
As Oshawa’s mayor, he raised awareness of and called for action on four key issues:
Humanitarian crisis: Mayor Carter echoed the messaging of Ontario’s Big City Mayors that the health and homelessness issue in this province and country has become a humanitarian crisis on our streets.
Mayor Carter spoke on how the City of Oshawa has done everything it can to be part of the solution, but that municipalities, including Oshawa, do not have the resources or expertise to tackle this crisis alone. He explained that the city continues to be an active partner with the Region of Durham and… and other organizations to address these challenges.
As examples of regional initiatives the city has helped to advance, the mayor spoke of the new Durham Region Street Outreach Program (24/7), the mobile Primary Care Outreach Program that is available 7 days a week, and the Mental Health Outreach Program.
Funding treatment programs and wraparound supports: Mayor Carter joined his municipal colleagues in stressing that there are not enough treatment facilities, treatment beds, or practitioners available for those who need help. He spoke of the critical need for recovery-based solutions and 24/7 urgent care centres to provide the right care at the right time which will relieve pressure on emergency departments and first responders. He discussed that partnerships and wraparound supports and a continuum of care is imperative to helping address this crisis.
The mayor called for the provincial and federal governments to allocate significant funding, resources and tools to address the complex issues of mental health and addictions in communities.
During his discussions at AMO, he spoke of his request for $40 million in provincial funding for mental health and addictions for Oshawa and the need for agencies and governments to work together to focus on recovery programs and a continuum of integrated care with wraparound supports.
Housing: Mayor Carter reiterated the need for more funding to fill the gap in the housing continuum and provide a range of supportive housing and housing options in our community.
He discussed that although the cCity is not responsible for building homes, it provides incentives to developers along with a responsive and streamlined development process.
The mayor discussed the region’s work to revitalize community housing in two communities in Oshawa with over 500 units combined, as well as the region’s plans to redevelop the former Ritson Public School to include mixed-use, sustainably-built housing along with community programs.
Fiscal reforms: Mayor Carter also spoke of the significant financial pressures facing the city related to the maintenance, repair and replacement of critical infrastructure. He explained that like other municipalities, infrastructure requirements together with high inflation are impacting the sustainability of city finances and resident affordability.
He advocated for fiscal reforms to look at how municipalities pay for capital and operating expenses and the need for modernized and new fiscal tools to manage infrastructure.
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“The city is not responsible for building homes” but it is responsible for allowing multimillion dollar housing developments?? It is responsible for its people?? Homelessness is not a “problem” it is a failing of our government to protect its people