Homelessness, mental health, addiction 'top of mind' of northern politicians at AMO conference

Representatives from northern Ontario are among those in Ottawa this week to ensure important municipal issues — especially around homelessness and mental health — are front and centre at the annual Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference.

Around 2,000 delegates from across the province have gathered for the conference, which began Monday and ends Wednesday, and is the first time it's being held in person in three years, relating to pandemic issues. The gathering allows municipal representatives to network with one another and speak with provincial ministers about key issues.

Danny Whalen is a councillor in Temiskaming Shores and the president of the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM), which represents 110 communities across the northeast.

He was part of a large joint delegation that met with several provincial ministers Monday afternoon to speak about topics like mental health, addictions and homelessness.

Whalen said the issues of homelessness, housing shortages, mental health, addictions and the opioid crisis are "not big-city problems."

"Those are small-town northern Ontario problems as well," he said.

"There's lots of people in northern Ontario [who] think the little clusters of tent cities are Toronto, or Ottawa or a bunch of other problems," Whalen said.

"They're not. They're happening in your North Bays, your Sudburys, your Timmins — even smaller municipalities have homeless people on the street."

Along with FONOM, there were also representatives from the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association (NOMA) and the Northern Ontario Service Deliverers Association at the conference.

"Rather than each of us going individually, we're going to go collectively, have a stronger voice," said Whalen. 

Whalen said FONOM wants to create a northern Ontario-centric approach to find solutions to these specific problems.

"We need a joint table where all the players come together to discuss the issue, so that we're not all trying to deal with the same problem in different directions," he said.

Whalen admitted these issues couldn't be solved in one day with one meeting.

Sudbury Mayor Brian Bigger is among the delegates at AMO in Ottawa.

"When you're seeing people face to face, you really get the feeling of partnerships, networking and working together," he said.

Bigger has already had a chance to speak to several ministers about Sudbury projects and opportunities.

"The housing issues, the immigration issues, the homelessness and addiction challenges that we all face are things that are top of mind. You know, we're all looking for solutions. I think we'll find many solutions through this process," he said. 

"Ontario big-city mayors did reach out to the province about two months ago and asked for the ability to sit down and talk with the provincial government, and so this is our opportunity here."

Bigger is a part of Ontario's Big City Mayors, mayors of cities with populations of 100,000 or more.

"I think it's important to have these alliances and partnerships that we continue to build," he said. 

"We're part of the solution and we need to have these discussions to understand where the province is coming to on many of their programs."