Latest news with #AMO
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ontario anti-encampment law punishes the homeless, avoids long-term solutions: critics
A new provincial law that aims to clear encampments from public spaces does not address the root causes behind homelessness and punishes people who have no access to affordable shelter, critics say. The Safer Municipalities Act, which passed last Tuesday in the Ontario legislature, gives municipalities and police "enhanced tools they need to end encampments and clean up our parks and public spaces," according to a provincial news release from April. But the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), which represents all 444 municipalities in the province, says the law does not provide longer-term, permanent solutions for homelessness — an issue municipalities across the province have described as a top concern in recent years. "It doesn't really focus at all on the root causes of homelessness ... the lack of deeply affordable housing, the lack of mental health and addictions services at the levels that we need them, as well as some of these basic issues around income support," said Lindsay Jones, the AMO's director of policy and government relations. Under the legislation, the province will spend $50 million to help create 1,239 additional housing units, and $20 million to create 971 additional shelter and temporary accommodation spaces. It will also put $5.5 million toward the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit to "immediately free-up emergency shelter spaces for people living in encampments" by helping around 1,000 people living in shelters move into longer-term housing, the news release said. WATCH | Ford first introduced the legislation in December: While Jones called the spending encouraging, she said its "a drop in the bucket" compared to the nearly $2 billion the AMO estimates is needed to end encampments in Ontario. More than 80,000 people in Ontario were homeless last year, according to an AMO report. The association previously found there were about 1,400 encampments across the province in 2023. CBC Toronto has reached out to the province for comment. Jones said the Safer Municipalities Act is particularly focused on enforcement. The law strengthens penalties for people who "deliberately and continually break the law by adding the new aggravating factors of continuous trespassing and the likelihood to reoffend," the provincial news release said. People convicted of a trespass offence may face a fine of up to $10,000, according to the bill. The legislation also allows police officers to issue a ticket or arrest people who do not comply with an order to stop using illegal substances in public and to leave the public place. People found guilty of violating the legislation may face fines of up to $10,000 or up to six months in prison. The province will explore "judicial approaches" that provide rehabilitation as an alternative to jail time for minor or non-violent drug crimes, the provincial news release said. When Ontario Premier Doug Ford first introduced the Safer Municipalities Act in December, he said encampments "are taking over public spaces, with illegal drug use happening out in the open, creating huge safety risks for people and communities." "Enough is enough, this has to stop and it will stop," Ford added. But Diane Chan McNally, a community worker in Toronto who works with people who live in encampments, says the Safer Municipalities Act is punishing those who have no access to affordable housing. "We're misdiagnosing the actual problem. We're suggesting that the issue is people using drugs in public when the issue is actually that people have nowhere affordable for them to live," she said. McNally said there is a stereotype that people who live in encampments are heavy drug users involved in criminal activity. The reality is that "every kind of person" lives in encampments because they cannot afford housing, she said. The people she has worked with include an 84-year-old woman who started living in an encampment after her spouse died and she could no longer afford housing. WATCH | Ford has said he is prepared to use notwithstanding clause to clear encampments: Many people who live in encampments are concerned they will be targeted under the new legislation regardless of whether they use drugs or not, McNally said. Catherine McKenney, NDP MPP for Ottawa Centre, said the legislation could also fuel a cycle where people who have been imprisoned will struggle to get housing once they're released because they have a criminal record, McKenney said. "Prison beds are not housing," McKenney said. The legislation may also infringe on the rights of people who are trying to seek shelter, said Harini Sivalingam, director of the equality program at Canadian Civil Liberties Association. In Ontario, there is strong case law — meaning law based on previous judicial decisions — that establishes people have a right to seek shelter when there are no available shelter options for them overnight, she said. "'The government can't deprive them of that right by evicting them overnight when they have nowhere else they can go for safety and security," Sivalingam said. Last year, before the act was introduced, Ford pledged to use the notwithstanding clause that would override the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms if the courts were to "interfere" with the legislation. He made the pledge in a letter to 12 mayors who asked him to use the clause to clear encampments. In April's provincial news release, 16 mayors across the province indicated their support for the Safer Municipalities Act. Community groups and advocates in the province are exploring legal avenues to stop the enforcement of the Safer Municipalities Act, Sivalingam said. "The government is trying to seek shortcuts that will impact important rights and freedoms," she said.
CBC
17 hours ago
- Politics
- CBC
Ontario anti-encampment law punishes the homeless, avoids long-term solutions: critics
Social Sharing A new provincial law that aims to clear encampments from public spaces does not address the root causes behind homelessness and punishes people who have no access to affordable shelter, critics say. The Safer Municipalities Act, which passed last Tuesday in the Ontario legislature, gives municipalities and police "enhanced tools they need to end encampments and clean up our parks and public spaces," according to a provincial news release from April. But the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), which represents all 444 municipalities in the province, says the law does not provide longer-term, permanent solutions for homelessness — an issue municipalities across the province have described as a top concern in recent years. "It doesn't really focus at all on the root causes of homelessness ... the lack of deeply affordable housing, the lack of mental health and addictions services at the levels that we need them, as well as some of these basic issues around income support," said Lindsay Jones, the AMO's director of policy and government relations. Under the legislation, the province will spend $50 million to help create 1,239 additional housing units, and $20 million to create 971 additional shelter and temporary accommodation spaces. It will also put $5.5 million toward the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit to "immediately free-up emergency shelter spaces for people living in encampments" by helping around 1,000 people living in shelters move into longer-term housing, the news release said. WATCH | Ford first introduced the legislation in December: 'Enough is enough': Ford details legislation aimed at dismantling homeless encampments 6 months ago Duration 2:02 While Jones called the spending encouraging, she said its "a drop in the bucket" compared to the nearly $2 billion the AMO estimates is needed to end encampments in Ontario. More than 80,000 people in Ontario were homeless last year, according to an AMO report. The association previously found there were about 1,400 encampments across the province in 2023. CBC Toronto has reached out to the province for comment. Law misdiagnoses problem: community worker Jones said the Safer Municipalities Act is particularly focused on enforcement. The law strengthens penalties for people who "deliberately and continually break the law by adding the new aggravating factors of continuous trespassing and the likelihood to reoffend," the provincial news release said. People convicted of a trespass offence may face a fine of up to $10,000, according to the bill. The legislation also allows police officers to issue a ticket or arrest people who do not comply with an order to stop using illegal substances in public and to leave the public place. People found guilty of violating the legislation may face fines of up to $10,000 or up to six months in prison. The province will explore "judicial approaches" that provide rehabilitation as an alternative to jail time for minor or non-violent drug crimes, the provincial news release said. When Ontario Premier Doug Ford first introduced the Safer Municipalities Act in December, he said encampments "are taking over public spaces, with illegal drug use happening out in the open, creating huge safety risks for people and communities." "Enough is enough, this has to stop and it will stop," Ford added. But Diane Chan McNally, a community worker in Toronto who works with people who live in encampments, says the Safer Municipalities Act is punishing those who have no access to affordable housing. "We're misdiagnosing the actual problem. We're suggesting that the issue is people using drugs in public when the issue is actually that people have nowhere affordable for them to live," she said. McNally said there is a stereotype that people who live in encampments are heavy drug users involved in criminal activity. The reality is that "every kind of person" lives in encampments because they cannot afford housing, she said. The people she has worked with include an 84-year-old woman who started living in an encampment after her spouse died and she could no longer afford housing. WATCH | Ford has said he is prepared to use notwithstanding clause to clear encampments: Is eviction the answer to Ontario's homeless encampment problem? | Canada Tonight 6 months ago Duration 12:38 The Ontario government plans to crack down on homeless encampments through new legislation, with Premier Doug Ford even pledging to use the notwithstanding clause if necessary. But is the dismantling of the encampments and eviction of their residents a long-term solution? Diana Chan McNally, community worker and advocate, and Cam Guthrie, one of the 12 mayors that asked Ford to use the notwithstanding clause to remove encampments from public spaces, discuss more. Many people who live in encampments are concerned they will be targeted under the new legislation regardless of whether they use drugs or not, McNally said. Catherine McKenney, NDP MPP for Ottawa Centre, said the legislation could also fuel a cycle where people who have been imprisoned will struggle to get housing once they're released because they have a criminal record, McKenney said. "Prison beds are not housing," McKenney said. Law could violate people's rights, CCLA says The legislation may also infringe on the rights of people who are trying to seek shelter, said Harini Sivalingam, director of the equality program at Canadian Civil Liberties Association. In Ontario, there is strong case law — meaning law based on previous judicial decisions — that establishes people have a right to seek shelter when there are no available shelter options for them overnight, she said. "'The government can't deprive them of that right by evicting them overnight when they have nowhere else they can go for safety and security," Sivalingam said. Last year, before the act was introduced, Ford pledged to use the notwithstanding clause that would override the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms if the courts were to "interfere" with the legislation. He made the pledge in a letter to 12 mayors who asked him to use the clause to clear encampments. In April's provincial news release, 16 mayors across the province indicated their support for the Safer Municipalities Act. Community groups and advocates in the province are exploring legal avenues to stop the enforcement of the Safer Municipalities Act, Sivalingam said.
Global News
4 days ago
- Health
- Global News
More than 2K died of opioids in Ontario last year as numbers trend downward: data
More than 2,200 Ontarians died from opioids last year, a 15 per cent decrease from 2023, newly released data from the Office of the Chief Coroner shows. 'What goes through my head is a small degree of optimism in the fact that we have seen less people die last year, which is very good, but that's within a context of 2,231 people dying last year,' Dr. Dirk Huyer, the chief coroner, told The Canadian Press in an interview. His office had recorded 2,639 opioid deaths in 2023. 'I also have a degree of worry that this is a short interval, for whatever reason that we haven't identified, and that the numbers could potentially get worse again,' Huyer said. The mortality rate from opioid overdoses was 14.3 deaths per 100,000 people in 2024. That is down from the peak of 19.4 deaths per 100,000 people at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, when opioids took the lives of 2,880 Ontarians. Story continues below advertisement Fentanyl and its related substances were found in more than 83 per cent of opioid toxicity deaths, while stimulants were found in 69 per cent of deaths. Prescription benzodiazepines were seen in 45 per cent of deaths last year, a sharp increase from 33 per cent the year before. Non-prescription benzodiazepines were found in 62 per cent of deaths, slightly down from 66 per cent in 2023. 2:33 Peterborough health officials applaud AMO stance on Ontario's opioid crisis The opioid crisis began to hit Ontario in 2015 and 2016 when illicit fentanyl made its way east from British Columbia. There were 728 opioid deaths in 2015 and by 2018, that doubled to 1,565 deaths. The crisis peaked in the middle of the pandemic. Get weekly health news Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday. Sign up for weekly health newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario's chief medical officer of health, declined a request for an interview about opioid deaths in the province. The Canadian Press has asked him on more than a dozen occasions since 2022 to discuss the opioid crisis but he has never agreed to an interview on the subject. Story continues below advertisement Health Minister Sylvia Jones did not respond to an interview request. The Ministry of Health said the province is 'making it easier for people to break the tragic cycle of addiction by expanding access to safe and comprehensive mental health support.' 'Through Ontario's road map to wellness, the government is investing $3.8 billion over 10 years, and $124 million through the addictions recovery fund, supporting 500 new addiction recovery beds, more than 32 youth wellness hubs, over 100 mobile crisis teams, and innovative models of care like mobile clinics,' the ministry said in a statement. Huyer lamented the fact that the province does not precisely know what's behind the decrease in opioid deaths, but postulated that it could be due to a slightly less toxic supply of drugs. 'I wish we knew because then I think everybody would be able to answer the question on where they should be focusing and how to help provide the best for everybody,' he said. Other hallmarks of the Ontario opioid crisis remain unchanged. Men account for 75 per cent of deaths, opioids disproportionally kill marginalized people and one in five opioid overdose deaths across the province occurs in the homeless population. The province has undergone a fundamental shift in its approach to the opioid crisis, which included banning supervised consumption sites it deemed too close to schools and daycares. That legislation came about after a Toronto woman was killed by a stray bullet from a shooting outside one of the sites. Story continues below advertisement One Toronto consumption site challenged that law in court days before it came into effect on April 1. A judge granted an injunction to allow 10 such sites to remain open while he considers his decision. But nine of the 10 sites had already agreed to transition to the province's new abstinence-based model — homelessness and addiction recovery treatment, or HART, hubs — and closed. The province is investing $550 million to fund a total of 28 HART hubs across Ontario, along with 540 new, highly supportive housing units. Liberal health critic Adil Shamji, who still works part time as an emergency department physician and was on the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic, said he's disappointed in the province's response. 'But there's no level of disappointment that can approach the level of heartbreak that families across Ontario are experiencing,' he said. The new homelessness and addiction treatment hubs also miss the mark, he said. 'They have no new services to offer and in many cases are underfunded, overwhelmed, and at a very immature stage where they're not able to meet the demand,' Shamji said. He said there's a void of leadership on the file. 'When you have the medical condition that touches on so many different people in so many different walks of life, it speaks to the need for a public health response and for leaders to come out with ambition, boldness and with the seriousness that it deserves,' he said. Story continues below advertisement 'And we're not seeing that from this government, from the minister of health, from public health or the chief medical officer of health.' The Office of the Chief Coroner reported 197 opioid deaths across the province in April, the most recent data available, but stressed that number is very preliminary and will rise since death investigations and toxicology results often taken months to complete.
6 days ago
- General
3 plane crash survivors plucked from Atlantic Ocean at night after plane goes down off Florida coast
Three people have been rescued from the Atlantic Ocean in the dark after their plane went down several miles offshore off the coast of Florida, officials said. Officials from Air and Marine Operations, an operational component of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, were alerted to a single-engine Cessna Skyhawk crashing down into the ocean on Sunday evening several miles offshore, according to a statement from of U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Monday. 'During the evening of June 1, an AMO Fort Pierce Marine Unit was alerted by the Indian River Shores Police Department that a single-engine Cessna Skyhawk had crashed approximately 2 to 3 miles offshore,' officials said. 'AMO crews immediately responded and arrived at the location, joining search and rescue efforts already underway by the U.S. Coast Guard, Indian River County Sheriff's Office, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and Indian River Shores Police Department.' An Indian River County Sheriff's Office helicopter was able to locate three heat signatures in the water which led to a focused search of the area and, at approximately 9:50 p.m. on Sunday night, AMO Marine Interdiction Agents located two survivors before finding the third one shortly after and bringing him on board as well. 'The survivor identified himself as the pilot and confirmed that only three individuals had been aboard the aircraft at the time of the crash,' CBP officials said. 'AMO agents assessed the pilot's condition, monitoring his vitals and providing initial care as he reported severe rib pain. The pilot was transferred to the Coast Guard 45-foot vessel for Emergency Medical Technician evaluation.' All three survivors were immediately taken to Coast Guard Station Fort Pierce for further medical treatment by local fire rescue personnel. 'AMO remains committed to protecting lives and supporting partner agencies in search and rescue efforts across the nation's coastal regions,' officials said.
Morocco World
27-05-2025
- Business
- Morocco World
Akhannouch: Morocco Ranks 2nd in Africa with 2% of GDP on Social Aid
Doha – Morocco has allocated MAD 26.5 billion ($2.65 billion) for the Direct Social Aid program in 2025. The government aims to increase this budget to MAD 29 billion ($2.9 billion) by 2026. Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch announced these figures Tuesday at the Chamber of Counselors. Morocco now ranks second in Africa for social spending, dedicating about 2% of its GDP to finance this program. The initiative targets 4 million families, representing approximately 60% of households not covered by family allowance schemes. The program provides monthly aid ranging from MAD 500 ($50) to MAD 1,200 ($120) based on family composition and circumstances. Since launching the digital platform ' in December 2023, around 4 million households have benefited from the program. These 4 million households represent nearly 12 million beneficiaries. Of these families, 3.2 million also receive Mandatory Health Insurance (AMO) services. More than 2.4 million households include children, while about 1.5 million have no children. Social transformation takes major leap Over 5.5 million children now receive direct aid through the program. Additionally, more than one million people aged over 60 receive monthly social assistance in the form of lump-sum subsidies. These subsidies aim to preserve the dignity of the elderly, strengthen their purchasing power, and reduce risks associated with aging. The prime minister noted that the government allocated MAD 25 billion ($2.5 billion) to the program for 2024. The government has also strengthened efforts against school dropout rates. About 1.8 million families with 3.1 million students receive exceptional aid. This support amounts to MAD 200 ($20) for primary and middle school, and MAD 300 ($30) for high school, limited to six children per family. Akhannouch revealed that 61% of beneficiaries come from rural areas. This approach aligns with the government's commitment to promoting equal opportunities, especially for rural girls. Currently, 75% of children aged 6 to 20 are covered by school aid. The government has also implemented a birth premium program. Families receive MAD 2,000 ($200) for the first child and MAD 1,000 ($100) for the second. A crucial extension of social coverage By the end of January, 42,800 families had benefited from this initiative. The program aims to improve maternal and child health, strengthen vaccination, and support healthy childhood. Support for widows has seen unprecedented progress. More than 420,000 widows currently benefit from aid, compared to only 75,000 at the end of 2021. Among them, 330,000 have no children, marking a major extension of social coverage. Nearly 87,000 widows care for 97,000 orphaned children, with support expected to reach MAD 400 ($40) per schooled child by 2026. The Mandatory Health Insurance now covers all Moroccan families. The government has integrated more than 4 million vulnerable households into a non-contributory system. These families receive free healthcare and hospitalization in public health facilities. The state ensures the sustainability of this system by covering these families' contributions, amounting to about MAD 9.5 billion ($950 million) annually. Since the launch of this system until March, more than 14 million medical files have been registered with the CNSS agency. These include over 300,000 related to chronic or costly diseases. Nearly 12 million cases have been processed, with a total amount exceeding MAD 17 billion ($1.7 billion). Health insurance in Morocco has made decisive progress with the massive integration of non-salaried and independent workers. Through the adoption of 28 implementing decrees, nearly 3.5 million people now benefit from medical coverage adapted to their income. By April, more than 400 million cases had been filed, with an average of 2,255 per day. Some 360,000 cases have already been processed, for an amount of nearly MAD 1 billion ($100 million). Read also: Education Reform: Akhannouch Reviews Achievements, Charts Path Forward
