Opposition to a letter from some Ontario mayors, calling for the province to permit municipalities to request the usage of the However Clause to clear homeless encampments, is rising.
A bunch of city, metropolis, regional and municipal councillors have penned a letter to the premier, calling for the clause to be eliminated as an possibility. They might somewhat see the province improve funding for issues like shelters, psychological well being and dependancy companies.
5 native politicians are amongst those that signed the letter. They embody: Regional Councillors for Kitchener and Cambridge, Rob Deutschmann and Pam Wolf; Metropolis of Cambridge councillors Ross Earnshaw and Scott Hamilton; and Guelph Ward 1 Councillor, Erin Caton.
Deutschmann spoke to The Mike Farwell Present and mentioned current feedback from Premier Doug Ford, concerning the usage of the however clause was “appalling.”
“He was almost ‘egging’ or ‘goading on’ the mayors to write to him to say they want to use the notwithstanding clause. And, it was clear to me that the premier was not considering the implications of that request.”
The Coalition of Ontario Huge Metropolis Mayors had rejected the potential use of the clause but it surely was a small group amongst them that urged the premier to permit for it.
Deutschmann mentioned he believes municipalities know finest what their communities want, so they need to be offered correct funding to speculate these {dollars} in areas that want it most. He mentioned proper now, they’re on their very own.
“Municipally, we’re doing all we can. We only have so much money to deal with it. The province is basically downloading this issue onto us. And, when the province says they are keeping your taxes low, no they aren’t,” he mentioned. “Look at your property tax bill. A lot of the increase to your property tax bill is because of the hundreds of millions of dollars we’re spending on provincial initiatives.”
Deutschmann plans to desk a movement to regional council this week saying that the usage of the clause is an overreach and that the area is not going to use it. It would additionally name on the province to take a seat down and give you a plan to correctly fund homelessness, psychological well being and dependancy companies.
The movement should be differed out of respect for the Chair (Karen Redman), who has requested a authorized opinion to see what the implication can be if the area votes on the movement.
Deutchmann mentioned we’ll have to attend and see what the outcomes of the opinion present and the place the Area can go from there.
15 mayors requested, on the request of the Premier, that Ontario invoke the however clause to clear encampments. I stand with 40 councilors from throughout Ontario, some in these communities, asking that the request be rescinded and the Premier work on options not litigation. pic.twitter.com/eXU3QpasVZ
— Rob Deutschmann (@robdeutschmann) November 18, 2024
