'Addictions and homelessness': Mayors to target mental health support at AMO Conference
Municipal politicians will get a chance to discuss their biggest needs with the province at this week’s Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference in Ottawa, Ont.
For the first time in three years, the conference returns in-person and with one-on-one meetings with provincial ministers, and gives municipal officials the chance to talk about shared challenges.
“We have seven members of council going and the mayor and we're going to be meeting with about 14 provincial ministers,” says Josh Morgan, London’s deputy mayor.
He adds, “We're going to be discussing is London's challenges with homelessness, mental health and addictions. We've got joint delegations with the county on that, and the Ontario big city mayors have also called for an emergency meeting with the province on this issue. It's really something that a number of municipalities are facing.”
St. Thomas, Ont. Mayor Joe Preston and his team have put together a platform of issues they’ll be discussing including regional transportation, supportive housing and improved school board relations to reduce the amount of portables in elementary schools.
“We also really want to talk more about how to better handle addictions and mental health at a street level,” says Preston.
“The best ideas at conferences like this come from somebody else,” he says. “We want to ask others what they are doing in their communities and how it works for them. Many are asking us how have you done, what you've done in reducing homelessness or reducing supportive housing, and we're happy to share with the work we've done.”
Both Preston and Morgan say municipalities can’t handle this issue on their own. They need provincial and federal dollars to build capital, and provincial dollars to fund operations of facilities.
Don Trepanier, director of the Annex in St. Thomas, Ont. hopes the province will provide funding for detox treatment after the AMO Conference in Ottawa, Ont. this week. (Brent Lale/CTV News London)On Talbot Street in St. Thomas, the newly opened Annex is an addiction resource centre, who has signed on 44 new clients in the 39 days they’ve been open.
“Since we've opened our doors, [we've] become very aware of the fact that we are a small city but we have the big city trappings of homelessness, mental health issues and addictions,” says Don Trepanier, director of the Annex.
He adds, “Our focus is addictions and one of the things that we have become aware of is that we don't have any resources in St. Thomas. When we have treatment beds, if we're talking about detox, we have to go outside of the city, and that's a huge barrier to rehabilitation and recovery.”
Trepanier has been speaking with Preston, and expressed his concerns ahead of the AMO Conference.
“I'd love to hear the mayor of St. Thomas come back from that meeting to be able to say, ‘Yes we have funding for detox beds and some treatment beds here in St. Thomas,’” says Trepanier.
‘’It's just really something that this community is missing. This community needs this very much because it's a barrier to anybody who's in St. Thomas to even consider detox or treatment,” he adds.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Health Canada to change sperm donor screening rules for men who have sex with men
Health Canada will change its longstanding policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned. The federal health agency has adopted a revised directive removing the ban on gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, effective May 8.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
LeBlanc says he plans to run in next election, under Trudeau's leadership
Cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc says he plans to run in the next election as a candidate under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's leadership, amid questions about his rumoured interest in succeeding his longtime friend for the top job.
Grandparent scam suspects had ties to Italian organized crime, Ontario police allege
A group of suspects that allegedly defrauded seniors across Ontario and other parts of Canada using a so-called emergency grandparent scam appear to have ties to 'Italian traditional organized crime,' according to an investigator involved in the OPP-led probe.
Sports columnist apologizes for 'oafish' comments directed at Caitlin Clark. The controversy isn’t over
A male columnist has apologized for a cringeworthy moment during former University of Iowa superstar and college basketball’s highest scorer Caitlin Clark’s first news conference as an Indiana Fever player.
Trend Line Anger, pessimism towards federal government reach six-year high: Nanos survey
Most Canadians in March reported feeling angry or pessimistic towards the federal government than at any point in the last six years, according to a survey by Nanos Research.
BREAKING B.C.'s short-term rental regulations include $10K daily penalties for Airbnb, other platforms
Short-term rental platforms that violate B.C.'s pending regulations can face administrative penalties of up to $10,000 per day, officials announced Thursday.
Taylor Swift's new album allegedly 'leaked' on social media and it's causing a frenzy
A Google Drive link allegedly containing 17 tracks that are purportedly from Swift's eagerly awaited "The Tortured Poets Department" album has been making the rounds on the internet in the past day and people are equal parts mad, sad and happy about it.
Motion to allow keffiyehs at Ontario legislature fails
A motion to reverse a ban on the keffiyeh within Queen’s Park failed to receive unanimous consent Thursday just moments after Ontario Premier Doug Ford reiterated his view that prohibiting the garment in the House is divisive.