{"id":9680,"date":"2015-01-28T19:49:32","date_gmt":"2015-01-29T00:49:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=9680"},"modified":"2015-02-19T07:51:22","modified_gmt":"2015-02-19T12:51:22","slug":"view-from-queens-park-homelessness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/view-from-queens-park-homelessness\/","title":{"rendered":"VIEW FROM QUEEN’S PARK: Homelessness"},"content":{"rendered":"

We can do better addressing homelessness
\nBy Chris Ballard, MPP
\nNewmarket-Aurora <\/strong><\/p>\n

The car was green \u2013 a compact, I believe. An older model, with rust and dents. The inside of the windows were coated with frost. It was out of place, that frigid December, parked on a side street as I walked my dog in the dark, early hours.
\nCloser inspection revealed a young man, no more than 25, was asleep on the front seat, covered in a sleeping bag. Bags filled the back seat.
\nPerhaps he\u2019d had a fight with his parents and was kicked out for the night. Perhaps he\u2019d had too much to drink and had simply decided to sleep it off instead of driving home. In any event, he looked okay and I carried on.
\nBut he was there the next day and curiosity got the better of me. I knocked on the car window and offered him a coffee and muffin. He appreciated the food and mumbled something about just needing a place to crash and not having any money. He seemed embarrassed to say more, so I wished him well and went on my way.
\nI stopped by for the next two days with coffee \u2013 and then he was gone.
\nWho was he a son of? What led him to sleep in his car during the coldest days of December? How had it come to be that he had no place of his own?
\nI\u2019m not so naive as to believe there isn\u2019t poverty and homelessness in our town, but this was a shock \u2013 he was living in his car less than two blocks from my house.
\nThat experience stayed with me during my time as Councillor, especially as I learned of other, local, homeless issues, and now as MPP.
\nIt\u2019s one of the reasons I jumped at the chance to work with Minister Deb Matthews on implementing Ontario\u2019s second Poverty Reduction Strategy, with a focus on youth homelessness.
\nOur community may be one of the wealthiest in Canada, but there is poverty. There is homelessness. We can do better.
\n360 Kids, a York Region organization dedicated to helping homeless youth, estimates 300 young people are homeless on any given night. (I\u2019m participating in the organization\u2019s \u201c360 Experience\u201d March 5 to raise awareness and funds for the group by experiencing a night on the streets. Details at www.360kids.ca.)
\nAnd so, I\u2019m excited to report that this past Monday I was at the table for the launch of the Expert Advisory Panel on Homelessness. The panel is co-chaired by Ministers Deb Matthews and Ted McMeekin, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
\nOpening the conference, Minister Matthews said \u201cOur goal to end homelessness will help us strengthen our province and our economy. When people have a place to call home, they are healthier, more ready for employment and better able to contribute to their communities. This panel will help us define the problem and determine how to improve the lives of vulnerable Ontarians.\u201d
\nAs part of its second Poverty Reduction Strategy, Ontario set a long-term goal to end homelessness. The province will work with this new panel to get practical advice on how to best approach this goal, beginning with ways to define and measure homelessness.
\nCurrently, there is no consistent definition of homelessness, or methods for counting the number of people experiencing homelessness in Ontario. If we can\u2019t define the problem and count the numbers of people affected, we can\u2019t measure the success of our programs. So we must start at the beginning.
\nLuckily, a lot of work has been done.
\nThe 13 experts at the table bring a wide range of expertise and knowledge, including the medical community and those whose organizations deliver services to the homeless. One individual brings a unique voice to the table, having lived the experience of being impoverished and homeless. I\u2019m particularly glad to see two representatives at the table with experience representing First Nations members.
\nSince the fall, I\u2019ve been meeting with organizations dedicated to helping the homeless and poor. It has been a moving experience and one that has left me even more determined to do something about this problem.
\nOur long-term goal of ending chronic homelessness is an ambitious goal. We\u2019re focused on it because it\u2019s the right thing to do. We know it costs us more in health care, policing and justice than it does to help house someone.
\nWe\u2019re looking at addressing Ontarian\u2019s needs across the housing continuum, from homelessness and emergency shelters through to subsidized rentals and home ownership.
\nIt\u2019s more important than ever before to make sure our dollars are getting measurable results and helping people \u2013 that\u2019s why our poverty reduction strategy ensures our investments are rooted in evidence. The work of the panel will go a long way to ensuring the province has the evidence it needs to make informed decisions.
\nI\u2019d like to hope that in the future, no-one will be forced to live in their car in the depths of winter, like the young fellow in my neighbourhood.
\n
\nOur community office is located at 203-238 Wellington St. E., Aurora. Phone: 905-750-0019. Email: cballard.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We can do better addressing homelessness By Chris Ballard, MPP Newmarket-Aurora The car was green \u2013 a compact, I believe. An older model, with rust and dents. The inside of the windows were coated with frost. It was out of place, that frigid December, parked on a side street as I walked my dog in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-2w8","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-09 14:37:15","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9680\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}