PHSSC

That Dr. Miles Howe BE PERMITTED to appear as a delegate respecting the motion respecting Declarations of Emergency for Homelessness, Mental Health and Opioid Addiction.

That correspondence submitted respecting Motion for Declarations of Emergency, Agenda Items 6.4.1 through 6.4.11, BE RECEIVED for information.

Whereas Niagara Regional Council acknowledges that the challenges of homelessness, mental health and the opioid crisis are exceptionally complex issues that have a measurable and significantly detrimental impact on the residents of the Niagara region, including the loss of life; Whereas addressing these issues places extreme stress on upper and lower-tier municipal programs and services, the Niagara Regional Police, Niagara Health, Emergency Medical Services and various non-profit service providers across the region; Whereas the challenges of homelessness, mental health and opioids have seen a trend of becoming more prevalent in recent years and continue to have a significant impact on the Niagara community; Whereas Niagara Region, through the staff in Community Services and Public Health, has taken many steps to address these issues with the development and provision of best-practice programming designed to mitigate their impact on the community; Whereas Niagara Region has met or exceeded its mandate in all of these areas, investing millions of unsustainable local property tax dollars into related programs and services; Whereas at this time all local resources dedicated to addressing these challenges have been exhausted; Whereas Niagara Regional Council acknowledges that the challenges of homelessness, mental health and the opioid crisis are intrinsically diverse and should not be viewed as a single monolithic problem; Whereas addressing these challenges will require strateg

That Report COM 3-2023, dated February 14, 2023, respecting Group Purchasing Services for Long-Term Care Home Food and Related Supplies, BE RECEIVED and the following recommendations BE APPROVED: 1. That Complete Purchasing Services Inc. (CPSI) BE APPROVED as the single source purchasing agent for group purchasing services for food and related supplies for the food and environmental services programs at the Niagara Region Seniors Services long-term care (LTC) homes for April 1, 2023 – March 31, 2027; and 2. That the vendors used in conjunction with the CPSI group purchasing program for food and related supplies for the food and environmental services programs at the Niagara Region LTC homes BE APPROVED as single source vendors.

That Report COM 4-2023, dated February 14, 2023, respecting Child Care and Early Years 2023 Operating Budget Adjustment, BE RECEIVED and the following recommendation BE APPROVED: 1. That a gross operating budget adjustment in the amount of $12,151,521 gross and $0 net, to be fully funded through the Ministry of Education (MEDU), BE APPROVED to support the implementation of the Canada Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) system and the stability of the child care and EarlyON system.

That Report COM 5-2023, dated February 14, 2023, respecting Approval of the 2021 Child Care Services Program Audit, BE RECEIVED and the following recommendations BE APPROVED: 1. That the Child Care Services draft Schedule of Revenues and Expenses for the year ended December 31, 2021 (Appendix 1 to Report COM 5-2023) BE APPROVED; 2. That staff BE DIRECTED to co-ordinate with the auditor to finalize the statements as presented; and 3. That this report BE FORWARDED to the Region’s Audit Committee for information.

That the following items BE RECEIVED for information: COM 2-2023 Seniors Services Quality Improvement Report: July - September 2022 COM-C 4-2023 Activities related to Niagara’s 10-Year Housing and Homelessness Action Plan for September to December 2022 COM-C 16-2023 Preliminary Analysis of Ontario Superior Court of Justice Judgment on Homeless encampments in the Region of Waterloo