Maureen's Housing Updates to the Ward
- Outdoor Shelter - Steps to Managing Encampments
- Reducing Homelessness and Managing Encampments – An Update
- We must solve the housing crisis while also protecting the environment
- People Over Parking
- The Housing Sustainability & Investment Roadmap and the Housing Secretariat
- Housing and Homelessness in Hamilton
- Encampment Take Downs, Housing Advocates and Institutional Responsibility
- Wards 1 & 8 need the rental housing licensing by-law
Outdoor Shelter - Steps to Managing Encampments
(October 16, 2024)
In August, the Mayor directed (MDI-2-24-02) City staff to research and prepare options for Winter shelters to present to Council by the end of September 2024. Following the staff's presentation to the General Information Committee meeting on September 18, the majority of City Council asked staff to move forward with an 80-bed outdoor shelter site at Barton-Tiffany and the addition of 192 temporary shelter beds as part of Hamilton’s continuing efforts to address a growing homelessness crisis. The outdoor site will offer insulated units, wrap-around support services and onsite amenities, including toilets, showers, and laundry. Professional staff and security services will be on-site 24 hours daily, seven days a week. The site operator will be Good Shepherd. The site will operate as a shelter.
To read more, click here.
Reducing Homelessness and Managing Encampments – An Update
(August 4, 2024)
In June, city staff presented a one-year review of Hamilton’s encampment protocol to a full committee of Hamilton City Council. The protocol has been in place since August 2023. Council has approved a number of changes and additional investments.
To read more, click here.
We must solve the housing crisis while also protecting the environment
(April 20, 2024)
Ontario’s housing crisis is on full display in big cities and small towns. But why a column about housing to mark Earth Day on Monday? Ontario’s fate and fortune depend on how we meet our housing needs without causing further harm to our wetlands, rivers, and forests, which are natural “infrastructures” vital to our individual and collective health and well-being.
To read more, click here.
People Over Parking
(March 5, 2024)
You may have read or heard that half of Hamilton's City Councillors were blocking the City's efforts to allow for affordable housing on city-owned parking lots in downtown Stoney Creek, requiring the Mayor to use Strong Mayor Powers to resolve the impasse. These lots offer free parking, have been declared surplus for many years, and have been zoned for multi-residential use for 30 years.
To borrow from Edmund Burke, elected representatives, more than anything else, owe the public their judgement and not just their obedience to public opinion. Citizens’ trust in government is frustrated when actions don’t match words.
To read more, click here.
The Housing Sustainability & Investment Roadmap and the Housing Secretariat
(January 12, 2024)
To bring focus and urgency to the housing crisis in our city, Hamilton City Council launched the Housing Sustainability and Investment Roadmap (HSIR) in 2023.
The HSIR is intended to be a “whole of community” response, with the City of Hamilton partnering with community organizations that bring different strengths, experiences, needs and resources to the housing table. Although HSIR is an excellent step in bringing local resources together, ultimate success requires a fully engaged and committed federal and provincial government.
To read more, click here.
Housing and Homelessness in Hamilton
(September 22, 2023)
“Why are we seeing such a dramatic increase in the number of people living in encampments?”
That’s a question I get asked regularly by Ward 1 residents. Truth is, there’s no easy answer.
But while housing affordability is an enormously complex topic, why housing is vital for all of us is relatively simple. It’s nearly impossible to complete school, get a job or even live a decent life without a safe, reliable place to sleep. It’s difficult to be healthy and to stay healthy without stable housing.
To read more, click here.
Encampment Take Downs, Housing Advocates and Institutional Responsibility
(December 5, 2021)
Dear residents of Ward 1:
In a previous letter to Ward 1 residents, I set out my position on the City’s abrupt decision to end the encampment protocol: https://www.maureenwilson.ca/encampments0921. The protocol was an agreement arrived at by the City of Hamilton and various health, housing and justice agencies to guide the municipality’s response to encampments. It was a housing-first approach. It set a time limit of fourteen days for tents to be in a City park and placed a cap on the number of tents permitted in any one place. It assessed the mental acuity of encamped persons. It also prohibited encampments in certain places such as near schools. I regret that City staff were not able to meet with their protocol partners to negotiate any amendments considered necessary before being instructed to terminate the agreement. As a result of Council’s decision, the Hamilton Police Service has been formally inserted into the City’s response to homelessness.
To read more, click here.
Wards 1 & 8 need the rental housing licensing by-law
(August 5, 2021)
On Tuesday, August 10th, 2021 the Planning Committee of Hamilton City Council will discuss a rental housing licensing by-law pilot for Wards 1, 8 and part of Ward 14.
The conversion of family homes to illegal, overcrowded rentals is an existing and growing issue in these areas of Hamilton.
If adopted, the proposed by-law would require rental business owners (landlords) to licence their rental units. Licenses would only be granted if the rental units fully comply with the Ontario building code, fire code, electrical code, parking requirements, room size and layout and all other regulations.
To read more, click here.
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