Council poised to add three weeks to approval process for future homeless hub locations

There’s growing recognition on council that the process to approve the locations of the city’s first service hubs for Londoners experiencing homelessness may have moved too quickly.

“In hindsight I ask myself, what can we learn from this experience?” Coun. Corrine Rahman told colleagues near the end of Tuesday’s committee meeting.

Rahman suggested that insufficient time for public consultation contributed to neighbourhood backlash and ultimately the collapse of the Canadian Mental Health Association’s proposal to locate a low barrier hub across two sites, the Lighthouse Inn and My Sisters Place.

She called on council to permit an extra three-week cycle of committee meetings to pass between the announcement of a proposed hub location and council’s decision.

“This amendment supports the addition of time between our decision points to allow for conversations with our constituents, to follow up with questions, and frankly to learn more before we make a decision,” she explained.

The Whole of Community Response to Homelessness proposed up to 15 low barrier service hubs and 600 supportive housing units for high-needs individuals living unsheltered.

Despite council’s approval last month, CMHA withdrew its bid after learning existing residents of the Lighthouse Inn would be displaced.

Civic Administration confirmed that an opportunity for extra time could be added into future Requests for Proposals (RFPs).

“It's a good example of something that we have learned, that we can use in future RFPs,” said Councillor Steve Lehman.

“This would give us some time to perhaps have a public engagement session, and perhaps have the [lead] organization come forward and have that public dialogue,” added Coun. Hadleigh McAlister.

Rahman emphasized that her motion doesn't mean the extra three weeks will always be needed.

Following council’s approval of the CMHA sites and two other hubs on Oct. 5, Mayor Josh Morgan spoke about the urgency shown by a majority of council, “For the 200 people who have died on our streets, we can not delay and we have not delayed.”

Now a month and a half later, Morgan isn’t worried that extra time for community input will constitute a meaningful delay.

“At the time when we were moving towards opening our first hubs this year, it wasn't something that was in the original RFP plan. [There] was also the urgency that we had of having some more additional spaces open before the winter months came,” he told CTV News.

Several councillors also expressed a desire that when future hub locations are considered, neighbourhood feedback is not dismissed as Not-In-My-Back-Yard NIMBY-ism.

“People have a right to voice their concerns, and we don't get to demonize people as NIMBY just because they are saying no,” asserted Coun. Susan Stevenson.

“The experience of residents, no matter where they live, is important. We need to value and honour that at this [council] table,” added Rahman.

Morgan said the potential for more time and input aligns with his commitment to continuous improvement as the Whole of Community Response to Homelessness rolls out.

“Each and every time we make a move, we are going to make improvements to the process,” he said. “We are going to add components that the public is looking for.”

Council will consider the change at its meeting on Nov. 28.