Greater Sudbury Mayor Paul Lefebvre can describe the complexities of the crises facing Sudbury in one phrase: “a mental health, opioids and homelessness crisis.”
“The crisis impacts every single one of us in this room,” he told the group of 500 at a Caruso Club luncheon Oct. 2, hosted by the Rotary Club of Sudbury Sunrisers and which included community groups and institutions.
“it's the biggest challenge that I face, truly, as mayor; it’s something that I deal with daily.”
Lefebvre said the challenge is within the precarious balance between, people who deserve dignity, care and support and residents and businesses who are “justified in demanding safe streets and welcoming public spaces,” said Lefebvre.
As part of his speech, Lefebvre also foreshadowed some of the changes to social services, set to be presented at the Oct. 7 council meeting.
The City of Greater Sudbury plans to expand services at Energy Court into a 24/7 hub with warming and cooling space, which also means 24/7 access to washrooms. There will also be enhanced security in the Energy Court area.
Lefebvre said there would be an increase in proactive enforcement and co-ordination with Greater Sudbury Police and bylaw services to address panhandling. He also said there will be a push to strengthen enforcement of property standards and hold landlords accountable for neglected buildings, such as fines for graffiti that is not removed.
There is also a push to explore a downtown ambassador program and a 24/7 social services response team in collaboration with the BIA and other partners.
And Lefebvre told the media that the cost would be covered through fund-reallocation.
“I think we can with the reorganization we’ve done,” he said. “We will ensure that we are meeting the level of service that we need to meet, that people expect.”
At the luncheon, held to acknowledge another fundraising achievement by the club, which donated 3,200 backpacks of school supplies to local children since the beginning of the school year as part of a partnership with the City of Barrie.
Barrie is also having a homelessness crisis, and Mayor Alex Nuttall recently declared a state of emergency in the city.
That won’t happen in Sudbury, however. Lefebvre told Sudbury.com that’s only because Barrie doesn’t control their social services, as Sudbury does.
“We already know that it's a crisis, and we're on our own,” said Lefebvre. “We’ve got to put everything in place to deal as much as we can and work with the service providers we have, organizations that are funded by the province.”
In fact, during his speech, Lefebvre spoke of the need for support from other levels of government.
“Our hospital is over-capacity, our community housing waitlist is over-capacity, although these main responsibilities of the provincial government and the federal government, municipalities across the province of Ontario are left carrying much of that responsibility without the proper support,” he said.
In fact, Ontario, is the only province wherein the funding and management of social services have been downloaded to municipalities.
But Lefebvre said all they can do is be prepared.
“Our role as mayor is to advocate, not to blame,” he said. “We're going to basically apply for the funds and make sure that we have a plan. And when the province is ready to open up a program, we’ll be there with a shovel.”
And that begins with expanding services at Energy Court, site of the now closed supervised consumption site, but which now solely functions as a warming or cooling centre (depending on the season).
“We kind of created this place, anarchy lives there and that needs to stop,” he said. “We need to provide them with support and organize that space to the best of our abilities, ensuring that they receive support and safety.”
Jenny Lamothe is a reporter with Sudbury.com, covering vulnerable and marginalized populations, as well as housing issues and the justice system.