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Tent City Eviction |
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Tuesday, September 24, 2002 No 1 Questions in Ontario Legislature After TDRC spoke with Dalton McGuinty's office around noon regarding the Tent City evictions, his questions were the first questions in the day's Question Period -- It is very rare for housing or homelessness to get this prominent spot. Please find the text of his questions below. Debates of the Ontario Legislature (Hansard)
Tuesday, September 24, 2002 today is for the Deputy Premier. You will know that just a few hours ago the police moved in and evicted the homeless people living in Toronto's tent city. You will also know that your government, the Harris-Eves government, walked away from its responsibility for social housing a long time ago. Government help for those with mental illness and addiction problems is woefully inadequate. Shelters are at 95% capacity today, to say nothing of what is going to happen during the winter months. Tell me, Madam Minister, where are these people supposed to go? Who is going to help them pick up their lives and re-enter society? Hon Elizabeth Witmer (Deputy Premier, Minister of Education): I'm going to refer that to the Minister of Community, Family and Children's Services. Hon Brenda Elliott (Minister of Community, Family and Children's Services): I appreciate the question from my colleague across the floor. As he will know full well, municipalities are responsible for providing homeless shelters and things of that nature in their local communities. The province is very pleased to provide the financial support for that. If the city of Toronto determines that there is a need for more shelter spaces, then we will do as we have always done and fund these on an 80-20 cost-sharing basis. Mr McGuinty: Thank you, Pontius Pilot. Our municipalities cannot possibly cope on their own with the problems connected with our homeless. They need a partner. You are supposed to be that partner. These people are going to move to public parks, they're going to sleep on sidewalks and maybe even move into people's backyards. What I want to know on their behalf is, specifically, what are you and Ernie Eves going to do for these people? What emergency assistance are you now going to provide and what long-term solutions will you implement to make sure these people get the help and the housing they need? Hon Mrs Elliott: First of all, in an article just recently published on this, Home Depot indicates, "We have worked closely with the authorities to ensure that these people will have access to Toronto's social services support network." So no actions were undertaken until consultations had been made with the local municipality. I would point out to my colleague across the way that already the province of Ontario gives Toronto $74 million in support of homelessness programs. That's just to the city of Toronto. Of course, we provide much more across the province as a whole in a variety of different kinds of programs and, again, if more is required, we will co-operate by sharing 80-20. Mr McGuinty: Much more is required, Madam Minister, and you should understand that. This is not an issue for Home Depot to address. The city of Toronto cannot possibly undertake this on their own. The federal government has extended a very generous offer and you refused to take them up on that. Here is your sorry record when it comes to the homeless in Ontario: you gutted rent controls; you walked away from social housing; you broke your promise to bring in rent subsidies; you cut funding for addiction and mental health services, and you did all of this quite proudly while slashing welfare rates in Ontario. Why not admit it, Madam Minister: your record is absolutely shameful when it comes to lending support to some of our most vulnerable and needy people. I ask you again on their behalf, what specifically are you going to do by way of emergency assistance and, then, over the long term, what are you going to do to find housing and other forms of assistance for our homeless? Hon Mrs Elliott: I remind my colleague across the way that homelessness is a very complex issue that requires all levels of government to co-operate to find a solution. I would remind my colleague across the way that recently Ontario announced that it would donate the net proceeds from the sale of the former Princess Margaret Hospital site to the city of Toronto to address homelessness. Our contribution has never been greater. Some $58 million goes to the city of Toronto to help with emergency hostel service costs; $4.9 million in provincial funds under the provincial homeless initiatives fund; $4.9 million under the emergency hostel funding program; $1.4 million for the Off the Street, Into Shelter program; $3.6 million for the supports to daily living programs; and just under $1 million for the community partners program. We are doing our share to try and solve this very difficult and very complex problem. |