Homelessness, Addiction and Safety

A safe community isn't negotiable, and that includes the people sleeping outside tonight, who are more likely to be hurt or die.

This isn't only a downtown problem. Encampments and discarded needles turn up in all of the neighbourhoods of Ward 12, including New Sudbury, the Flour Mill and Minnow Lake, as well as across the city. At the doors, in every neighbourhood, it's the same thing: we aren't getting the balance right. We need safe places for kids to play, and we need somewhere for people who are struggling to go.

People don't want to see anyone punished for being poor or addicted. They also don't want to see people left on the street, harming themselves or damaging property. Both of those are true at the same time, and a plan that answers only one of them isn't a plan.

Boundaries that hold. Society has behavioural boundaries, and it's fair to expect them. Sensitive spaces need protecting from open drug use, starting with anywhere children play.

Catch people before they fall. More people are dying every week, but the numbers of people living rough keep growing. More are arriving on the street than we are helping off it or sadly die before they can be helped. To deal with this crisis we also need to be solving the problem before people lose their housing in the first place.

Housing and treatment first. Anyone who wants into the system should be able to get in. That should be the priority. Housing is being built, just not fast enough, and some people need more than a home; they need support to learn to manage a home once they have one. What's missing isn't only buildings. It's the care that helps people back to standing on their own. We have a couple of facilities, but it's clearly not enough to turn the current tide.

Solving this can't be done by the city alone. The health unit, police and many of the support agencies don't answer to city council. We need to find a way for all of the local groups to work collectively.

We also need support from the province, because we are carrying the load not only for Sudbury but for a large portion of Northern Ontario. Health care and the courts are both provincial jurisdiction.

Council does play a role, and it starts with resources. What matters is that councillors know which part is theirs, where the job is to work with people who don't report to us, and when it is to combine our voice with other cities and press the province together.

Better bandaids in the meantime. We won't house and treat everyone overnight, and waiting for a solution from Toronto or Ottawa isn't acceptable either. People need to be safe where they are, whether they have a roof or not. We need to work within the resources we do have, while we lobby for the resources we need to provide a safe community for all.