Mat Siscoe says progress would be made if there were less government departments to deal with
Homelessness... the most talked about issue, according to St. Catharines mayor, at the recent Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference.
Mat Siscoe tells us last year it was housing, but now more is needed for mental health, addiction and how to support those struggling.
They made it clear upper levels of government aren't doing enough. "The property tax base is stretched at this point. I can't justifiably put more on the property tax to try and deal with these issues, when the taxes that are collected by the federal and provincial governments are the taxes that should be paying for these issues... that's not fair to my residents."
He gave credit for recent provincial funding for rehab facilities.
He acknowledged detox centres in St. Catharines, but that's not enough.
"We can get them into detox, and that's great for a couple of days to try and get them off the drugs initially, but if you're forcing people to wait 3 or 4 months before they can actually get into rehabilitation and treatment, then you're probably going to lose them somewhere along the way."
He pointed out residents don't feel safe going to parks, due to lack of funding from other government.
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