Provincial government declines Hamilton's request for more money to address homelessness

The Ontario government has declined a request from the City of Hamilton for more money to address its housing crisis.

At its meeting on Wednesday, city council was presented with a letter from Steve Clark, Ontario's minister of municipal affairs and housing, saying the province "cannot address ... at this time" a request sent by former Hamilton mayor Fred Eisenberger for extra funds to help more households who are without housing or at risk of being without housing.

"Please know that we are taking it under consideration," states Clark's letter, dated Oct. 19, five days before the Ontario municipal election that saw former provincial NDP leader Andrea Horwath chosen as the city's new mayor. "Our government recognizes the critical role our municipal partners play in providing safe and stable housing to vulnerable members of the community."

According to the Ontario government, it allocated more than $52 million for the 2022-2023 fiscal year for housing and homelessness programs in Hamilton. That includes $23,699,700 through the province's Homeless Prevention Program, which supports emergency shelters, community outreach, supportive housing and housing assistance.

The total represents a four per cent increase from the previous year, Clark's letter said.

Inflation in Canada sits at about seven per cent over the past year, according to Statistics Canada.

Clark's letter also notes that the province has given Hamilton more than $58 million from its Social Services Relief Fund, which the city says it received between 2020 and 2022.

"We value our partnership with the City of Hamilton and your willingness to share your perspectives and concerns as we look for new and better ways to address the need for affordable housing," Clark wrote.

Ontario municipalities prepare for budget shortfall

James Berry, a spokesperson for the city, said the Housing Services Division's forecasted budget for this year is $114.7 million.

In an email to CBC Hamilton on Friday, he said the city has a "$22.5-million shortfall of provincial funding to cover 2022 COVID-19 costs, and there are related costs anticipated in 2023 that require support from the Ontario government."

Ward 3 Coun. Nrinder Nann said she was "highly disappointed" with the response to the city's request for extra help, which comes as municipal councils across Ontario prepare for shortfalls caused by new provincial housing legislation that's expected to reduce their income from development charges and input over zoning decisions.

"It's disappointing to hear from the minister of housing that they are declining to provide more funding to the solutions that are known from a health perspective to accommodate ... success," she said, calling the decision "short-sighted."

"Coming out of this pandemic, there ought to be a shared governmental understanding of what recovery looks like."

Council dedicates $125,000 for warming centres

At Wednesday's meeting, council also confirmed a decision made last week by its emergency and community services committee to dedicate $125,000 to emergency warming services for people living outdoors this winter.

"Provincial COVID-19 pandemic funding was available during the 2021-2022 winter season to fund activation of new overnight drop-in spaces to support individuals during a cold alert," states the motion, approved by the committee and confirmed by council. It also notes that the "cold alert response was not included within [the] 2023 Housing Services Division budget."

The motion directs staff to take the funding from 2022 budget surpluses, or a reserve if necessary, and include an annual cold alert response for the same amount in council's 2023 operating budget deliberations.

In August, Hamilton's Housing Services Division told the committee that without additional provincial funding, some emergency services would be cut.

Report criticizes Hamilton's encampment response

With the arrival of winter, pressure is mounting on councillors who campaigned on doing more to help the city's residents who are homeless.

On Friday, Coun. Cameron Kroetsch — who represents the downtown's Ward 2 and is also a member of the emergency and community services committee — said he plans to ask council to meet "as soon as possible" to discuss new recommendations from the Office of the Federal Housing Advocate, part of the Canadian Human Rights Commission, that examine ways to better uphold the rights of people living in encampments.

The commission's report, which includes a case study on Hamilton, recommends "five key areas where Canada must do better":

1. Stop the use of policing and law enforcement as a response to encampments.

2. Provide funding and services at all levels of government — to support municipalities that are facing the disproportionate impact of addressing the existence of encampments, and to invest in short- and long-term housing options and supports for encampment residents.

3. Ensure the meaningful participation of encampment residents in decisions that affect them.

4. Recognize the distinct rights of Indigenous Peoples and include them in the development of policy approaches to encampments.

5. Address the conditions within encampments and provide access to basic services such as clean water, sanitation facilities, electricity and heat.

In a Twitter post on Friday, Kroetsch said he will push for an encampment response and bylaws that are in line with the recommendations.

The case study on Hamilton contained in the report addresses numerous human rights issues raised by the city's encampment response, including failure to acknowledge housing as a human right, lack of access to justice for encampment residents and a failure by the city to provide basic services for those who lack housing.

It also said city bylaws treat public space from the perspective of a "property owner with the right and power to exclude just like any other owner [even though] the city's primary role is as a government."

"As a government, it is bound by its human rights obligations to all its residents, both housed and unhoused. Therefore, bylaws and actions grounded in the city's powers as a property owner must always account for these primary human rights obligations, including the right to housing," the report said.

"Bylaws that are inconsistent with these obligations should be repealed, and new regulatory frameworks should be developed through collaborative processes led by people with lived experience of homelessness and encampments."