The Trudeau government is threatening to bypass Queen’s Park on funding to address encampments in municipalities, Global News has learned, potentially cutting the province out of decisions on how the money should be spent.
In mid-September, Canada’s Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Minister Sean Fraser sent a letter to provinces with an offer of $250 million to help find shelter for people living in encampments.
Fraser said while the federal government was initially looking for cost-matching agreements with provinces, the Ontario government didn’t respond to the offer forcing Ottawa to go directly to municipalities.
“We will no longer wait for them to muster the political will to act as winter gets closer and lives are put at risk,” Fraser said in a statement shared with Global News.
A source in the Ontario government said conversations had been ongoing between the two sides since Ottawa sent its initial letter on Sept. 18.
Three other provinces — Alberta, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan – also did not respond and will also be bypassed, the federal government said.
With colder weather approaching, Fraser said the government would approach six municipalities — including Toronto — which could “quickly adopt cost-matched responses” and would be approaching more cities with direct funding offers.
At an unrelated announcement in Toronto on Tuesday morning, city officials said they were increasing temporary shelter capacity as the cold weather of winter approaches. The city said it would add 530 spaces by expanding programs that are already in place and opening 24 hour respite sites.
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As part of the move, the city will reopen temporary beds it used at Exhibition Place during the winter last year. Roughly 200 people per night in the city currently call the intake line but can’t be matched with a bed.
Fraser suggested, that by not responding, the Ford government also risks having a direct say on how the encampment funding would be spent.
“If a province or territory partners with us, they will be able to select the communities that will get funding from us,” Fraser said in the statement. “Should they wish to forego a partnership with us, we will rely on the best available data to inform our decisions.”
Calgary, Edmonton, Saint John, Regina and Saskatoon are also on the list of cities set to receive direct funding.
Global News reached out to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, but did not receive a response by publication time.
Ontario cities begging for help with encampments
The issue of encampments has grown substantially in Ontario since the pandemic, with protests from big cities reaching a peak this summer, when mayors banded together to demand the province take a coordinated approach and appoint a minister to oversee it.
Ahead of the annual meeting between municipalities and the province in Ottawa this summer, the Big City Mayors group requested a coordinated response to tackle homelessness. They said the issue went beyond money and demanded a unified, planned approach.
“What is happening on our streets across this province is an unprecedented humanitarian crisis,” Marianne Meed Ward, Burlington mayor and chair of Ontario’s Big City Mayors, said during an event at Queen’s Park.
“There are too many people unhoused, living in encampments or other unsafe conditions and they’re struggling with mental health and addiction issues. This is growing and it impacts every single municipality across our province — large and small, rural and urban.”
Last year, a total of 1,400 homelessness encampments had been set up across the province, according to research published by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario. The research found that those encampments were found in both small towns and big cities.
The province responded by announcing it would ban supervised consumption sites near schools and put roughly $380 million into creating addiction hubs with 375 “highly supportive” housing units.
Latest Ottawa-Ontario housing spat
The decision to bypass Queen’s Park on the latest money mirrors a lengthy back and forth this year on affordable housing funding.
In that case, Fraser initially told his Ontario counterpart Paul Calandra that he would not send the province $357 million it was expecting for affordable housing projects. The feds said they would go straight to local service managers with the money instead.
The battle over that money came when Ottawa accused Ontario of failing to meet its obligations to use federal dollars to build tens of thousands of affordable housing units.
Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie told Global News the federal government found a “creative way to circumvent” the Ford government — a move she appears to agree with.
“If the middleman just doesn’t play ball, if the middleman is not willing to cooperate? Of course,” Crombie told Global News.
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