Prince George city councillor Garth Frizzell says there is a sense of urgency across Canada to address homelessness.
It was one of the three resolutions that were passed during the recently-completed Federation of Canadian Municipalities Conference in Toronto.
Frizzell, who is a past president of the group told MyPGNow.com that over 27 hundred delegates from across Canada share the same vision that more housing options are needed to address the problem.
“There was near unanimous support for getting more housing all across Canada. This is something that’s not just hitting Prince George, it’s hitting everywhere from Iqualit to Toronto and Silverton BC.”
In addition, the FCM is also calling on Ottawa to declare a mental health crisis in our country.
Frizzell noted there is no community in Canada that is not impacted by this.
“We are feeling it in different ways in different communities. But, the common piece is we know we need to have some action on it to help people out – so it’s declaring a crisis – that is aspirational and it tells us that we all recognize the problem.”
Furthermore, having the appropriate resources in place that are tailored to each community’s needs would be another big step.
“I think the really important piece is finding tools that are actually going to help people, that’s what it comes down to. If we’ve got everyone from Nova Scotia to BC and all points in between all saying that this is critical then you know it’s not just one jurisdiction that is hurting right now.”
Lastly, the third and final resolution looked at the fiscal framework of municipalities and the creation of a municipal growth fund that would link financial capacity to population growth along with a focus on new sources of revenue for local governments.