Former CAO Ken Todd has been meeting with community groups
The City of Niagara Falls is forming a committee to act on 12 recommendations aimed at tackling the homelessness problem in the city.
Former CAO Ken Todd presented to council this week, which included centralizing services in one hub.
Councillor Mike Strange pointed to the drug problem. "And you get someone who tries to sell just a little bit of something, and it doesn't seem like our upper tier government are telling the police or judges to keep them in jail."
Ken Todd suggested more tough love, and pushing hard against the drugs. "I think Niagara Falls is having some success, because we're being a little bit more aggressive... as long as you're providing those support services, it's not a bad thing."
Another recommendation is pushing provincial and federal governments to pay back funds the city has used.
He also suggested the city prepare land or buildings now for a possible site.
Councillor Lori Lococo presented one problem. "Sometimes the clients get banned, say they get banned from Project Share, they can still go to the soup kitchen, they can still go to the Bridge. If all the services are in one place, we need to be mindful if someone gets banned due to behaviour."
Ken Todd said that will be taken care of. "The people that will be operating these services are well minded, compassionate people, they'll be mindful of all that moving forward."
He also said it's not right that Niagara Falls is housing the vast majority of evacuees from northern Ontario communities.
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