To solve homelessness, we need an entrepreneurial approach, not more bureaucracy

Ontario’s Big City Mayors caucus is calling on the province to dedicate a minister and strike a task force to solve the crisis of homelessness. This follows hot on the heels of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario’s report on encampments, which describes the challenges cities are facing.

Municipalities say they’ve done all they can. While some would differ, it’s true that municipalities don’t have the fiscal capacity of the provincial and federal governments. They can’t levy income or sales tax, both of which generate large revenue, and are limited to property-based taxes and fees. Therefore, for big ticket things like housing or transit, cities must rely on provincial or federal funds. They also rely on the provinces for vital services, such as mental health and addiction services, which could play a big role in helping people exit homelessness.

While the Mayors’ call for a cabinet minister and task force sounds like a good idea, it can lead to heavy bureaucracy and delay. Homelessness is not poorly understood. Numerous studies and much research have described and analyzed its many facets. Nor do we lack experts, starting with people who are unhoused or underhoused, through to people working in agencies and organizations serving this community. Many highly knowledgeable and motivated people work in government, but their impact is blunted by bureaucracy or politics. All of these people have ideas, and we can also draw on examples that have been successful elsewhere.

Having a single point of contact, coordination, and accountability could be useful. But only if this office has the right mandate and takes a practical, entrepreneurial approach. A social entrepreneurial approach is vital if the crisis is to be met. Social entrepreneurs share some characteristics with conventional entrepreneurs, such as resourcefulness, pragmatism and persistence, but instead of working for profits, they focus on achieving positive social outcomes.

A social entrepreneur who can identify and mobilize the various components of a response in a timely way would be a promising start. They would have to have access to the necessary places in government, the ability to second staff, and the money to initiate activity. They would need the capacity and the gumption to find ways over and around systemic hurdles, and the insight to see when a less-than-perfect solution is workable enough to get us through the short term while we continue to work on better, longer-term fixes.

Time is of the essence. People are being forced to live outdoors because they don’t have safe or appropriate alternatives. Winter is coming.

In the short term, making sure that people who are unsheltered have an indoor place to stay should be the highest priority. The mandate should be immediate implementation, with a goal of having solutions in place before winter.

To do this, we will need to navigate systemic hurdles in housing, health care, income support, employment, disability supports, parks and recreation, and all of the public social systems that should work together to support a person to get into and maintain a stable home. None of these hurdles are insurmountable. Solving homelessness is achievable.

Achievable, that is, if we are focused on achieving it. We do not need another inquiry or investigation to gather information. We do not need another endless conversation on jurisdiction or for this to become an exercise in passing the buck to other orders of government.

We do need to bring together the expertise and resources to act to protect people’s human rights.

In the long term, we need to ensure a supply of stable, adequate housing. Decades of government inaction on adequate housing have dug us this hole, and it will take some time to get out of it. But in the meantime, we need to act on the symptom of this deeper problem, and prioritize the people who are bearing the brunt of its effects.

Ontario’s Big City Mayors are right that we need to solve this crisis. But the usual bureaucratic approach won’t work. We need a fresh, entrepreneurial approach to getting things done. The stakes for people who are homeless are high. Winter is coming. Let’s get to work.