{"id":9893,"date":"2025-02-26T10:19:45","date_gmt":"2025-02-26T14:19:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluedoor.ca\/?p=9893"},"modified":"2025-03-03T10:28:43","modified_gmt":"2025-03-03T14:28:43","slug":"tario-election-2025-drastic-measures-needed-as-provincial-election-candidates-in-york-region-consider-rise-in-homelessness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluedoor.ca\/tario-election-2025-drastic-measures-needed-as-provincial-election-candidates-in-york-region-consider-rise-in-homelessness\/","title":{"rendered":"ONTARIO ELECTION 2025: \u2018Drastic measures\u2019 needed as provincial election candidates in York Region consider rise in homelessness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Posted On: February, 26th, 2025, Posted By: Mike Adler, YorkRegion.com, Original Article.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hidden from many York Region voters is a condition, homelessness, that will get rapidly worse unless the next provincial government takes steps to fix it, advocates say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re at \u201ca tipping point\u201d in a crisis, says a report released last month<\/a> by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, 81,515 Ontarians were known to be homeless, up 25 per cent from 2022 and by 2035, the number may double or could grow to 294,000 \u201cunder an economic downturn,\u201d the report predicts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What has become a more visible problem even in York \u2014 whose outreach workers visited 62 encampments in 2021 and 204 two years later<\/a> \u2014 is not the municipality\u2019s fault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s Canada\u2019s provinces that are responsible for social welfare, Jeff Schlemmer, executive director of the Community Legal Clinic of York Region said in an interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rents in York climbed 100 per cent in the last eight years but fixed incomes for people receiving social assistance rose just 15 per cent, Schlemmer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doug Ford\u2019s Progressive Conservatives indexed the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) program to inflation but left recipients far below the poverty line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of increasing shelter allowances for Ontario Works and ODSP to help poor people stay in their rented apartments, \u201cthe cheapest thing this government might have done,\u201d the Ford government watched many more people become homeless, Schlemmer added.

Hidden from many York Region voters is a condition, homelessness, that will get rapidly worse unless the next provincial government takes steps to fix it, advocates say.
We\u2019re at \u201ca tipping point\u201d in a crisis, says\u00a0a report released last month<\/a>\u00a0by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario.
Last year, 81,515 Ontarians were known to be homeless, up 25 per cent from 2022 and by 2035, the number may double or could grow to 294,000 \u201cunder an economic downturn,\u201d the report predicts.

What has become a more visible problem even in York \u2014\u00a0whose outreach workers visited 62 encampments in 2021 and 204 two years later<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 is not the municipality\u2019s fault.
It\u2019s Canada\u2019s provinces that are responsible for social welfare, Jeff Schlemmer, executive director of the Community Legal Clinic of York Region said in an interview.
Rents in York climbed 100 per cent in the last eight years but fixed incomes for people receiving social assistance rose just 15 per cent, Schlemmer said.
Doug Ford\u2019s Progressive Conservatives indexed the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) program to inflation but left recipients far below the poverty line.
Instead of increasing shelter allowances for Ontario Works and ODSP to help poor people stay in their rented apartments, \u201cthe cheapest thing this government might have done,\u201d the Ford government watched many more people become homeless, Schlemmer added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\u201cThere\u2019s no sign of this changing. It\u2019s just going to keep getting worse until it does change,\u201d said Schlemmer, who argued the next provincial government needs a realistic business plan to get homeless people back into homes.
The AMO report calls for $11 billion in investments over a decade to build \u201ca future where homelessness is rare, brief and nonrecurring.\u201d
The PC Party did not provide a York Region candidate to interview but a campaign spokesperson said the party shares municipal leaders\u2019 concerns about keeping communities safe.
\u201cThat is why we are using every tool we have to clear encampments and restore safety to public spaces while enhancing mental health support and keeping the most vulnerable members of our society safe and housed,\u201d the statement said.
In York, the PCs are investing more than $36 million through the Homelessness Prevention Program in new transitional housing units to support people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, the statement added.
Michael Braithwaite, CEO of Blue Door, York\u2019s largest emergency housing provider, said the province has invested new money but not enough.

\u201cWhat we need are drastic measures,\u201d Braithwaite said, advising people to ask candidates about their party\u2019s long-term housing plans and push them on increasing income supports.
\u201cHow are we going to give people in encampments viable alternatives?\u201d
People can forget people who are homeless are \u201cfathers, mothers, aunts, cousins \u2014 these are humans at a time in their lives when they need help,\u201d said Braithwaite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jason Cherniak, Liberal candidate in Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill and a lawyer said his party would offer universal mental health care, double ODSP and Ontario\u2019s stock of supportive housing and establish an emergency fund to help renters avoid eviction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All this would help reduce homelessness, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Encampments, Cherniak said, are a tragedy arising from \u201ca failure of government to help people who need help.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People in this situation need to feel \u201csupported and heard and not pushed around by the government,\u201d he added in an interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Denis Heng, Newmarket-Aurora\u2019s New Democratic candidate and a public health epidemiologist said homeless people \u201cdeserve the same respect as anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Riding residents may naturally think about their own situation first, but they do care about ending chronic homelessness by addressing root causes, Heng said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NDP plans to end homelessness include doubling OW and ODSP payments, more permanently affordable housing, including 60,000 new supportive housing units with mental health supports and restoring rent control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What sets New Democrats apart is political will to do these things, Heng said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Posted On: February, 26th, 2025, Posted By: Mike Adler, YorkRegion.com, Original Article. Hidden from many York Region voters is a condition, homelessness, that will get rapidly worse unless the next provincial government takes steps to fix it, advocates say. We\u2019re at \u201ca tipping point\u201d in a crisis, says a report released last month by the Association of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":9894,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t