Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OBCM) coalition says solutions to homelessness, mental health and addiction crises should not be funded by municipal tax dollars, and instead are calling on the Ford government to help.
The group of 29 mayors who make up the OBCM partnership launched a campaign earlier this year calling on various levels of government to step up in solving these issues.
Some of the asks coming from the movement include additional funding, more resources, and a minister dedicated to overseeing the progress.
Hamilton’s mayor, Andrea Horwath, says the city can’t afford to wait for the province to act.
“Because the crisis is so bad, and continues to grow…we are building in some of these expenses into our budget and we are working on that budget right now, so we are not going to wait,” she said.
“But we are very clearly going to demand that those expenses get covered by the provincial and federal governments.”
Horwath says the provincial budget is expected by the end of this month, and hopes the government will work to address these asks from the OBCM.
The Solve the Crisis campaign from the OBCM will be brought to Hamilton City Council tomorrow for approval.
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