CambridgeToday received the following letter from a reader regarding our article, Cambridge mayor calls for more action on encampments, open drug use and involuntary treatment
Jan Liggett and nine other Ontario mayors are urging the Ford government to invoke the "Notwithstanding Clause" of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to enforce severe, misguided measures aimed at addressing homelessness.
Let’s set aside the chilling repercussions of using the clause for this purpose: the notwithstanding clause was never intended to be used as a way to side-step the concept of human rights for ALL Canadians. And let’s disregard the woeful misunderstanding of the complexity of treatments for addictions and mental health issues.
Instead, we should look at how Doug Ford has effectively played these ten Ontario mayors. Ford is a master of distraction. Rather than addressing the root causes of the current situation, Ford seeks to encourage us to demonize the poor.
The roots of our homelessness crisis date back to the 1990s, when the Mike Harris government slashed municipal budgets, transferred provincial responsibilities to local governments, and banned municipalities from running deficits. Since then, small towns and cities have struggled to meet even basic budgetary needs.
Harris made cuts to all social programs including subsidized housing. He also cut the correctional system (jails and treatment facilities) effectively ending treatment programs as well as trades and basic life-skills training. Funding for provincial children's aid societies was severely reduced, leading to more children being raised in substandard conditions thus perpetuating a cycle of poverty.
The Harris government, with the rationale of expanding growth, ended rent controls and subsidies for low cost housing. The result was increased profits for developers, but the collapse of the supply of affordable housing.
Today’s crisis is the inevitable outcome of all these economic decisions. While there are no quick solutions, any real progress must begin with substantial provincial funding to support municipalities after decades of neglect.
Doug Ford would rather blame the poor and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms for the current crisis as it diverts attention away from the provincial government’s role. By inveigling local mayors to ask him to invoke the notwithstanding clause, Ford can claim he is merely responding to municipal demands. Some may praise him, but these measures are as reckless as "putting out fire with gasoline."
Rather than attempting to gut the Charter, these mayors should address the true causes of this crisis by holding the province accountable for its lack of genuine financial support and lobbying for appropriate funding for their municipalities.
Jill Marks
Cambridge
