London councillor's transparency concerns with homelessness plan rebuffed by committee

CBC

21-05-2025

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A London city councillor's push for clarity about the community stakeholders involved in London's response to homelessness was shot down by a council committee on Tuesday.
In a letter to the community and protective services committee (CAPS), Ward 4 Coun. Susan Stevenson expressed frustration about the lack of information about those involved in the whole of community system response to homelessness.
The city has said more than 200 people, representing over 70 local organizations, contributed to the response. However, Stevenson's main issue was with a collaborative component of the plan responsible for guiding its implementation.
In a quarterly update last month, city staff said three highly supportive housing projects, totalling 211 units, had been endorsed by members of the strategy and accountability table. Capital funding would come from the Fund for Change and other federal housing programs.
"Council and the public do not know who the members of this strategy and accountability table are," Stevenson's letter to the committee reads. Stevenson is not a sitting member of CAPS.
"We do not know how many members are in this committee, nor which of the 70 organizations that make up the (response) are represented. We do not know what the vote count was or if any concerns were expressed during that endorsement process."
Stevenson sat in on Tuesday's meeting and voiced annoyance that she asked for the locations of the three projects but was rebuffed and told they would be announced by CMHA and Indwell. CMHA unveiled two sites this month, one on Hill Street and another on Huron Street.
"I feel very uncomfortable receiving a report telling me lots of people know about and endorse things happening in our community that matter to neighbourhoods, and their city councillor is not afforded even a confidential briefing," she said.
She suggested that staff bring a report back that would include, among others, an organizational chart for the overall homelessness response and a communication plan for the London Community Foundation (LCF), council, and the public. LCF is responsible for disbursing the Fund for Change.
The letter also proposed potentially turning the table into a council advisory committee.
Stevenson's letter was tabled as a motion by Ward 5 Coun. Jerry Pribil. A motion tabled by Ward 6 Coun. Sam Trosow recommended the letter be received but that no action be taken.
After a lengthy discussion, Trosow's motion passed 3-2, with Pribil and Ward 1 Coun. Hadleigh McAlister opposed.
"It's just another indication that any kind of questioning gets shut down," Stevenson said after the meeting. "This is what I've seen from council, is they don't want to know."
A list of organizations participating in the homelessness response isn't available online. A list also isn't available for the strategy and accountability table, which Mayor Josh Morgan and the city's budget chair, Elizabeth Peloza, both sit on.
One staff report from 2024 describes the table as "made up of community members, local service providers, frontline staff, and representatives of other sectors, including health, justice, indigenous serving organizations, business and others such as the development community."
Among its responsibilities is guiding the overall implementation of the whole of community system response.
An organizational chart for the whole of community system response could be circulated with council, and are consistent with the strategy and accountability table, Kevin Dickens, deputy city manager for social and health development, told councillors.
A review of the table is due June 5, so any list of participants would be outdated soon, he said. The table's votes aren't recorded, and are based around consensus building, which can lead to "robust and sometimes lengthy dialogue."
"It means we receive decisions from time to time that we need to make in terms of … revisions on a plan … or when community partners present projects they'd like to proceed with, and they want to bring the community partners along," he said.
Responding to Stevenson's frustration over a lack of communication on the housing projects, Dickens noted that the city doesn't own the properties, and no city funds have been given.
Speaking virtually, Peloza said communication wasn't always up to the city.
"These are independent organizations seeking funding through provincial and federal means. If the city's not the issuers of an RFP, we're not going to get the information until shortly before it's public," she said.
Ferreira likened it to opening up a gym. "If I don't need to have a zoning change and I don't need money from the city to help me open that gym, then I can open the gym," he said.
City staff said they would advocate for third-party organizations to share in advance wherever possible, but ultimately, the organizations would have to be willing.
Later in the meeting, councillors voted 5-0 to authorize and approve $5.17 million in capital grants for CMHA's Hill Street and Huron Street projects from the federal Housing Accelerator Fund.
The matter goes for a vote before full council on June 3.