Whereas, since April 1, 1999, the City of Windsor has been the provincially designated Consolidated Municipal Service Manager (the “CMSM”) responsible for the administration and delivery of provincially funded social services, which social services included the administration of Ontario Works, child care, and social housing (the “Social Services”) in the City of Windsor, the County of Essex, and the Township of Pelee Island (collectively, the “Region”); and
Whereas the division of costs for Social Services have been governed by a decision that arose from a Division-of-Costs Arbitration, dated March 9, 1999 (the “Arbitrated Agreement”); and
Whereas the CMSM model was established by the Province of Ontario to promote efficiency, consistency of service delivery, and economies of scale across municipal boundaries; and
Whereas the CMSM model and the Arbitrated Agreement did not address funding to address homelessness and housing issues in the Region, beyond social housing; and
Whereas there has been recent discussion at County Council to advocate for separate provincial and/or federal funding to be provided to the County to address homelessness and housing issues in the County, outside of the established CMSM model; and
Whereas there would likely be additional administrative costs for having the County manage homelessness and housing funding outside of the CMSM model, and there has been no indication that separate provincial or federal funding would be included in any separate payments made to the County; and
Whereas the creation of a parallel administrative system to address social service delivery in the County would result in duplication of staffing, governance, infrastructure, systems, and overhead costs; and
Whereas in the absence of new provincial or federal funding, any increased administrative or service costs to address social services in the County would necessarily be borne by local municipal taxpayers, namely the residents of the County’s constituent lower-tier municipalities; and
Whereas the County addressing homelessness and housing issues on its own and outside of the CMSM model, presents a material risk of increased property taxes, service disruption during transition, and inefficiencies that may not result in improved outcomes for residents.
NOW THEREFORE be it resolved that the Council of the Corporation of the County of Essex formally expresses its opposition to the pursuit or development of a County-administered social services delivery system, to operate outside of the CMSM model; and
FURTHER that Council affirms its support for the existing CMSM model for the Region and encourages collaborative, evidence-based discussions between the County and City focused on service improvement within the current CMSM model rather than creating administrative duplication; and
FURTHER that Council directs that this resolution be forwarded to the City of Windsor, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services, MPP Trevor Jones, MPP Anthony Leardi, and MPP Andrew Dowie for information; and
FURTHER that Council directs County Administration to request that the City of Windsor revisit the Arbitrated Agreement, to discuss areas of mutual agreement, discuss areas for improvement, and to discuss incorporating the costs for homelessness and housing initiative into the Arbitrated Agreement.