The involvement of cities in the fight against homelessness is relatively recent. Their traditional position was as simple as it was categorical: homelessness is a responsibility of the Government of Quebec, that it takes care of it. And the door was closing. In 2008, not so long ago, Quebec did not even have data on the contribution of cities in this area1.
Last week, a dozen mayors of cities of all sizes across Quebec formally affirmed their city’s desire to contribute to the fight against homelessness, to maximize the resources at their disposal and to discuss best practices in the field, under the aegis of the Union des municipalités du Québec (UMQ). I was told it was a first in municipal history.
The long debate on the commitment or not of the cities in this file would therefore be closed.
But it’s a risky choice.
This formal commitment to homelessness is risky first for fiscal reasons. The property tax, which represents more than 70% of city revenues, is designed to provide services to property: snow removal, road maintenance, water and sewer networks, etc.
Every time cities increase their supply of human services, which is generally a good thing, they continue to dig their graves financially, which is always a bad thing.
The issue of homelessness will therefore be added with even more acuity to all those who are making a reform of municipal taxation more and more urgent.
This commitment to homelessness is also risky for a question of expertise.
Getting someone off the street takes a lot of knowledge, knowledge of housing, addictions, physical health, mental health, street work, crime management, and I on the way. In addition, this expertise must be mobilized over a very long period. Even in large cities, the municipal civil service has a very, very small portion of the knowledge needed to address homelessness. This is why the Government of Quebec has always led the file.
So why are cities getting involved? There are three reasons. Good reasons.
The first is obvious: “In such matters [détruire la misère], as long as the possible is not done, the duty is not fulfilled”, said Victor Hugo. Cities can act, so they must act.
The second reason is less metaphysical: cities are in the best position to coordinate the action of the myriad of partners concerned, because they already work with them on a daily basis: various CISSS services (integrated health and social services centres), multiple community organizations, police services and I would add the provincial and federal governments (yes, thanks to its spending power, the latter gets involved in everything).
This unique anchoring of cities in communities is already prompting the Quebec government to rely on them in several areas, for example, to implement part of its family policies (as of 2012, 687 municipalities had a family policy) and its immigration policies. Cities can act and react faster than other governments, so the tendency to give them responsibility is heavy.
The third reason is political. It is Quebec that has assumed the leadership of the file for decades and it does not work. For what ? Because you need a leader on the ground with both access to resources and political legitimacy. The CISSS have one, but not the other.
When dozens of partners are involved in a complex file, the active presence of a unifying leader is necessary, otherwise everything stagnates at the first difficulty.
When a partner is not at the table, the chef summons him. When a partner fails in his responsibilities, the leader rebuffs him. When resources are lacking, the leader asks for them. When the plan is ready, the leader announces it. When the plan fails, the leader bears the consequences. More than anyone else, the leader wants the plan to succeed.
Only a mayor has the resources (he is at the head of a public service and has a budget) and the legitimacy (he represents the citizens) to play this role of leader, therefore to mobilize, rebuff, demand, return accounts. In any case, the citizen already knows who should be responsible: when homelessness makes waves, it’s the mayor’s phone that rings.
So it’s great news that cities want to take more leadership on homelessness. It will be positive for the homeless and positive for Quebec. However, our leaders will work with one hand tied behind their backs as long as a reform of municipal taxation does not give them the means to fully assume this new responsibility and thus “do their duty”.