One can only hope it wasn’t due to lack of interest that there were no questions posed to the two delegations at the Audit, Finance and Administration committee about Hamilton’s Ontario Works system. Whatever the reason, Hafeez Hussein and Michelle Mac Donald are saying this is their final attempt to grab the council’s attention regarding what they view as inadequate oversight of various elements within the Hamilton Ontario Works office. Both Hussein and Mac Donald became invested in how Hamilton’s OW operates after experiencing issues with tenants on OW who left their properties behind with unpaid rent and damages.
Through these experiences, they came across Ayesha Asghar, whose story about being targeted by repeat scammers was first highlighted by the . Asghar bought a townhome in Hamilton only to discover it was occupied by squatters who refused to leave. During her lengthy struggle to reclaim her home, the tenants turned the basement into a makeshift dormitory and drug house. At one point, Ayesha found herself homeless, and Michelle offered her shelter. It was through their relationship with Ayesha that Hafeez and Michelle began hearing about individuals creating fake leases and job status letters just to qualify for OW housing assistance. Ayesha later discovered that 10 people were using her address as their residence for shelter benefits, but when she reported this to the Hamilton OW office, she claimed nothing happened.
Since then, Hafeez-who has a background in actuarial science and accounting-has dedicated himself to investigating how Hamilton’s OW office compares with other cities in Ontario regarding fraud management. Armed with data from Peel and Ottawa, Hafeez and Michelle have addressed Hamilton Council multiple times stating that it appears Hamilton isn’t as thorough as other communities when it comes to recovering overpayments or reporting clear instances of fraud to law enforcement.
This week they spoke again highlighting that over the years Hamilton’s Ontario Works has mistakenly overpaid clients by around $58 million, and this year alone saw an increase of an additional $1.4 million after they raised concerns about it. There were no inquiries from councillors.
Hafeez shared his thoughts on his experience with Hamilton saying, “we now know that this council has no interest in protecting the taxpayers or provincial treasury… I don’t even live in Hamilton, Peel or Ottawa; I live in Toronto. Can you explain to me why this council and the culture of City Hall is like this?” Meanwhile, Michelle Mac Donald pointed out concerning Crosswalk Communities being chosen for affordable housing development in Stoney Creek saying it’s typical of how things operate here…”the only money that (Crosswalk) has secured so far is what has been promised by the city. This feels like a rinse-and-repeat situation similar to the tiny homes debacle. I’m so fed up with this city just handing out money so they can feel good about themselves while those footing the bill keep getting ignored time after time. This city seems stuck on repeat.”
One person taking these issues seriously is Auditor General Charles Brown who has been auditing Hamilton’s OW for months now and plans to have a report ready this fall before the municipal election.
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