THUNDER BAY – Thunder Bay’s city council has voted to pursue a more cohesive strategy on poverty and homelessness, but not without concerns from some councillors that those efforts will come at the expense of municipal taxpayers.
Coun. Mark Bentz called Monday for city administration to provide a report outlining a "multi- faceted approach to finance, leverage, and influence solutions to address homelessness and poverty in Thunder Bay."
While the city already works with local agencies on the issues, Bentz said it should consider investing more resources and developing a more detailed plan to bolster existing efforts and encourage funding commitments from government.
"I think we as a local government can do more to act as a catalyst to reduce homelessness in our community, and the suffering that it brings," he said. "We’ve been making strides in this area… and there are many organizations doing good work on this file, but I think we can do more."
The concept drew cautions from several councillors wary of increased spending on issues they said were outside the city's jurisdiction.
Coun. Albert Aiello said the report should highlight "how much money we already invest."
"It’s important to know what we’re doing already before we do more," he said.
That call came despite a report delivered last week that outlined the city's efforts on homelessness.
Mayor Bill Mauro similarly said the report could serve as a public relations tool to reassure the community, earning a sharp rebuke from Bentz.
“As a community… we do a lot in this space already,” Mauro said. “Perhaps that’s the real opportunity here in this report… for the community to know what we already do.”
Thunder Bay would “probably look pretty good” on the issue compared to other municipalities, he said.
"I don’t view this resolution as a way to get an accounting of what we’re doing so we can pat ourselves on the back about it," Bentz responded. "If that’s all you believe this resolution is for, I don’t think it really should be supported by you."
Issues of poverty, homelessness, mental health, and addictions have featured prominently at council since Mauro announced in September he was working to develop a “collaborative protocol” with local agencies to address homeless encampments in the city.
The initiative was inspired by community concerns over people gathering at an abandoned gas station at the County Fair Plaza. The city initially planned to fence off the station with police backing, but paused that plan amid public backlash.
Councillors defended the city’s record on the issue against public criticism on Oct. 21.
Coun. Kristen Oliver worried Monday about the tax implications of increased city spending on housing and social services, areas of provincial and federal jurisdiction.
“We can display our leadership… but I really emphasize some of the calls I get from people [whose] water bills have just come out, they’re concerned about the increase, their property taxes are going up, there’s concerns about that. I do feel for those people.”
“We don’t want to be putting added pressure on people that are already experiencing financial issues,” she said.
Coun. Brian Hamilton agreed.“Coun. Oliver was very right to talk about tax implications, because many people are living hand-to-mouth right now, are barely in their homes,” he said.
Coun. Andrew Foulds said the city could point to plenty of existing good work like tax and water rebates for low-income residents, its poverty reduction strategy, and significant yearly contributions to agencies like the Shelter House and RFDA.
However, he said council should embrace the chance to “up our game," particularly on its advocacy efforts.
The city is bearing massive costs thanks to inadequate provincial and federal support on housing, addictions, and mental health, he said.
“Police responding to social issues, paramedics responding to social issues is very expensive,” he said. “We need to call a spade a spade here – this problem doesn’t just exist in Thunder Bay, it’s happening in cities all over the country.”
“Where are the provincial governments? Where is the federal government? Why are they letting municipalities down? Why are we taking the hit for health care? I think we have to do some work in calling them out on that.”
Councillors voted unanimously in favour of Bentz’s motion, which directs administration to return with a report by Dec. 20.
