Some of the mayors of Ontario's largest municipalities publicly signed a letter formally asking Premier Doug Ford to use the notwithstanding clause to pass legislation to deal with homeless encampments.
The mayor's decision came after the premier’s comments on Tuesday, when answering a question by QP Briefing about whether the province would support the mayor's request.
The signatories of the letter are the mayors of Barrie, Brantford, Brampton, Clarington, Windsor, Sudbury, Cambridge, Oshawa, Pickering, St. Catharines, and Oakville, as per a copy of the letter obtained by QP Briefing.
The letter explicitly calls for the use of the notwithstanding clause.
"We have heard your invitation for a clear request for provincial action," the letter wrote.
"We request that your government consider the following measures, and where necessary use the Notwithstanding clause to ensure these measures are implemented in a timely and effective way."
Some members of the province’s big city mayors’ caucus wrote to Ford on Thursday laying out their list of demands, saying the provincial government needs to support communities dealing firsthand with the homelessness and addictions crisis. The demands echo a motion passed by the caucus earlier this month,
asking for the provinces and feds for legislative changes to deal with encampments and homelessness issues in their communities. This included shielding their measures from legal challenges.
When asked about the motion earlier this week, Ford directed the mayors to publicly ask him for it.
"I have an idea: why don't the big city mayors actually put in writing that they want the province to change the homeless program, make sure that we move the homeless along, and why don't they put in, 'Use the notwithstanding clause,' or something like that," Ford said.
"That's what they should be doing. Let's see if they have the backbone to do it if they really want the homeless situation to improve."
The mayors' motion originally sought legislative amendments to establish a "system of mandatory community-based and residential mental health and addictions treatment."
It proposed that provincial and federal governments invoke the notwithstanding clause to preempt potential constitutional challenges, ensuring those in need could access necessary treatment.
But in the final version of the motion that passed, the mayors settled on a request for an "immediate review and update" of the Mental Health Act and the Health Care Consent Act, in collaboration with medical experts and municipalities, to assess if mandatory treatment is “the right thing to do.”
Premier Doug Ford, however, has said this wasn’t enough, and asked the mayors to submit a formal written request showing "100 per cent" support for the initiative if they "want something done."
Not all members of the big city mayors’ caucus signed the letter, with Ottawa the most notable holdout. Toronto is not a member of the caucus as it doesn’t belong to its parent body, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario.
Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall has been vocal about the urgency of the issue.
“The notwithstanding clause is a tool that is available to restore municipal governments’ ability to maintain order and safety.
“This will not solve all problems, but at least give our mayors the opportunity to move forward and protect our cities’ most innocent and vulnerable citizens,” Nuttall wrote in an op-ed published earlier this month.
A spokesperson for the Premier's Office said in an email that the government is considering the request. “We will explore every legal tool available to the province to clear encampments and restore safety to public spaces.”
“While cities remain at the forefront of issues relating to municipally owned lands, we are examining which additional tools the province can provide to help municipalities effectively manage these ongoing challenges,” spokesperson Grace Lee wrote.