PHSSC

WHEREAS Niagara Region prides itself as being a caring and compassionate community that continually strives to be a place where people want to live, work and play; WHEREAS providing access to safe, adequate and affordable housing for everyone is fundamental to achieving that goal; WHEREAS Niagara Region acknowledges that mental health, mental illness, addiction and homelessness, while important issues, are not homogenous, interchangeable or consistently interconnected, and doing so may over simplify exceptionally complex issues that require targeted policy solutions and intervention; WHEREAS Niagara Region’s 10-year Housing and Homelessness Action Plan (HHAP), A Home For All, outlines the Region’s vision, challenges, and the actions required to achieve its goals; WHEREAS Niagara Region has embarked on an ambitious effort to end chronic homelessness through participation in the national Built for Zero campaign; Public Health and Social Services Committee Open Session Minutes PHSSC 2-2021 February 16, 2021 Page 3 WHEREAS Regional Council formally adopted Mental Health and Wellbeing (2.2) and Addressing Affordable Housing Needs (2.3) as strategic priorities for the current term of our Council; WHEREAS a recent KPMG report commissioned by Niagara Region indicated that Council invests more levy funding than its peers into homelessness, demonstrating a steadfast commitment to addressing the issue; WHEREAS Niagara Region acknowledges that people living in shelters are part of the cr

That Report PHD 1-2021, dated February 16, 2021, respecting Collaborative Action to Prevent COVID-19 Transmission and Improve Health Equity by Increasing Access to Paid Sick Days, BE RECEIVED and the following recommendations BE APPROVED: 1. That Regional Council ENDORSE the Decent Work and Health Network’s report Before it’s too late: How to close the paid sick days gap during COVID-19 and beyond attached as Appendix A to Report PHD 1-2021; Public Health and Social Services Committee Open Session Minutes PHSSC 2-2021 February 16, 2021 Page 5 2. That Regional Council BE DIRECTED to send the letter, attached as Appendix B to Report PHD 1-2021, to the provincial Minister of Health; Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development; and the Premier, expressing its support for legislated paid sick days through the Employment Standards Act; and 3. That a copy of the letter and Report PHD 1-2021 BE CIRCULATED to local members of provincial parliament, local members of Parliament, and to the Association of Local Public Health Agencies for dissemination to all Ontario boards of health, AMO and the local area municipalities.

That the following items BE RECEIVED for information: PHD-C 3-2021 COVID-19 Response and Business Continuity in Public Health & Emergency Services COM-C 3-2021 COVID-19 Response and Business Continuity in Community Services COM-C 4-2021 Request for Declaration of State of Emergency for Mental Health, Homelessness and Addiction – Additional Correspondence COM-C 6-2021 Improving the Long-Term Care Outbreak Response in Ontario – Association of Municipalities of Ontario’s (AMO) Final Submission to the Long-Term Care COVID-19 Commission PHD-C 2-2021 Niagara Emergency Medical Services Temporary Funded Opportunities COM-C 7-2021 Responding to an Information Enquiry Regarding a Community Request for the Region to Declare a State of Emergency on Mental Health, Homelessness and Addiction Public Health and Social Services Committee Open Session Minutes PHSSC 2-2021 February 16, 2021 Page 6 PHD-C 4-2021 Considerations & Context Regarding Declaration of a State of Emergency