Mayor Andrea Horwath held a press conference in her office Thursday afternoon to answer questions about the City’s announced delay in opening the Barton/Tiffany temporary low-barrier outdoor emergency shelter spaces.
Mayor Horwath was joined by City Manager Marnie Cluckie, Acting General Manager of Planning and Economic Development Steve Robichaud, Director of Environmental Services Cynthia Graham, and Director of Housing Service Michelle Baird.
Roger Collins from CHCH News and I (Joey Coleman) attended the press conference.
The following is a transcription of the press conference. It is edited for clarity.
Question 1: On Barton/Tiffany Opening Delay
Question, Roger Collins, CHCH: “Thank you for taking the time to speak with us, Your Worship. First things first, the planned opening of the Tiffany site, that was set for tomorrow, is now being delayed. Why?”
Mayor Andrea Horwath:
“I’m extremely disappointed. As you know, I expected that we could get people into temporary shelters prior to the snow flying.
We know Mother Nature has already fudged that desire or that hope.
The delay that we see now is something that I’m unhappy with. Nobody wanted this to be delayed.
I’m still very, very committed to making sure that we have shelter for all of the people who are unhoused in our city.
When we complete the plan, we will have increased our capacity by 80 percent here in the City of Hamilton, which is extremely important.
That includes the Barton Tiffany project, which would house up to 80 people. We have already opened 79 new beds , in our regular shelter system. So an increase there. There’s another 26 [beds] imminent.
When those are all ramped up, there will be 192 [new spaces].
At this point, we’re well on our way.
We’ve opened about 64 at this point, temporary drop-in beds, over at [former] Cathedral Boys School.
We are doing everything we can as the weather gets colder and colder to try to get people into temporary lodgings and shelter so that they can move to permanent housing as well.
Nobody wants to see temporary shelters last forever. That’s why we call them temporary shelters, but what we do need is to have the permanent housing built.
Which is another big effort that we’re making, so that we can move people into permanent housing with supports.
The shelter system has supports for people.
The temporary [Barton/Tiffany] shelter system, that’s delayed, will also have 24/7 supports.
It will shelter people who have had a hard time with the existing shelter system.
For example, people who have pets, and people who are couples.
So those folks will be able to be housed in the temporary outdoor shelter space.
Overall, we are doing our level best to give people a place to be able to stay warm and not be on the streets, in the parks or in tents.
I don’t think anybody wants to see that.”
Question 2: On when did the City know the Barton/Tiffany opening would be delayed
Roger Collins, CHCH: How long did you know about this delay?
Mayor Andrea Horwath:
“You’ll have to ask the staff about the details in terms of what has been the delay.
You will know that we’ve been doing really important work around the environment, making sure the site is appropriate and people are properly protected.
We have technical staff here as well to speak to that.
I think everybody wants to make sure that this is a safe place and that it is done properly.
That’s certainly my goal.
Am I extremely disappointed? Absolutely. I’m extremely disappointed.
There are some things that we couldn’t control. But again, I’m going to have the City Manager respond to that.
I do want to say I am not stopping in terms of my commitment, and I am doing my level best to get people into a better place than a tent.”
Roger Collins, CHCH: “Before we turn it over, just one more question for you. The City is often talking about being more efficient. A lot of people will see this as a fumble or even a broken promise. What would you say to the people of Hamilton who are disappointed by this news?”
Mayor Andrea Horwath:
“I would say not say at all that it is a broken promise.
Certainly, I’m as disappointed as everybody else, that we didn’t get this off to the start at the timing that we wanted.
My promise remains strong – we want to get people into permanent housing with supports. We want to see people in affordable housing that’s permanent. This is a transitional period. And I’m going to continue my level best to make sure that vision is achieved for the people who are finding themselves without shelter in our city.
And I think that’s what Hamiltonians want and expect. Thank you. Let’s turn it over to the City Manager.”
Roger Collins, CHCH: “Turning back to that City has been communicating that this site will be open tomorrow. That’s not the case. How long has your office known about this delay?”
Marnie Cluckie, City Manager:
“Yes. It’s true. The 80 beds that will be opened at the Barton and Tiffany outdoor temporary shelter have been delayed.
It’s part of a broader strategy for our temporary shelters.
The good news is that we have 79 temporary shelter beds already open, and we have another 26 which are imminent.
It’s disappointing, of course, and we want to get people housed as soon as possible.
However, we also have to make sure we do this right.
The delays relate to making sure all of our due diligence is completed, that the health and safety measures are in place, and some additional health and safety measures had to be implemented to ensure that we did that right.
Additionally, there are some delays with the micro shelters. So we’re, anxiously awaiting having these opened up around mid-January.”
Question 3: Where are the micro-shelters?
Roger Collins, CHCH: “Are these micro shelters lost in transit? Where are they? This can’t be Canada Post’s fault.” [Everyone in the room chuckled at this.]
Marnie Cluckie, City Manager:
“They are being, manufactured and sent over from overseas.
The business that we have working on it is located in Brantford. They are diligently working to get it here, but there was just simply a delay in them arriving.”
Question 4: On when did the City know the Barton/Tiffany opening would be delayed, asking the City Manager
Roger Collins, CHCH: “When was it clear that this delay was imminent?”
Marnie Cluckie, City Manager:
“Over the past week or so, we’ve been working diligently as a team in terms of determining when we would be having them arrive.
Which is, as I said, in early January.
Certainly, we were hopeful that we could get them in place.
Also, importantly, looking at Plan B, what do we do for folks if they don’t arrive?
That is, as the Mayor noted, opening spaces at Cathedral Boys to make sure that there’s still shelter during these winter months.”
Question 5: About the health and safety requirements of the site
Roger Collins, CHCH: “About the health and safety requirements of the site, What is going on with the health and safety requirements that are still being worked out there?”
Cluckie asked the Director of Environment Services to elaborate on this matter.
Cynthia Graham, Director of Environmental Services:
“We did have the phase one environmental site assessment that was completed in 2018 as part of our diligence to develop this site.
We did hire a third party consultant to review that and come up with one of the protection measures that need to be in place to make this a safe site for this outdoor shelter.
As part of that review, they recommended several mitigation options, including membranes to protect from gas, a waterproof barrier, a capping system, and then asphalt over where the location of the cabins would be and the office building.
That progress is going very well. We are anticipating finishing the paving today.
We’re working on the electrical connections, and the fencing is underway.
So we’re making great progress on site to be ready for when the shelters arrive and can be set up.”
Question 6: Are delays increasing the costs?
Roger Collins, CHCH: “With this delay, are there more incurred costs?”
Marnie Cluckie, City Manager:
“At this point, we haven’t reconciled costs. There are no additional costs as a result of the delay for the micro-shelters, but we’ll do a full reconciliation on the project as time goes on and report back on that to council and the public.
Question 7: Are people accepting offers of shelter in the planned Barton/Tiffany microshelters?
Joey Coleman, TPR: “I’ll follow up on getting people into these micro shelters. Are you already offering people spaces, do you have a sense of who you want to take these spots, and, how are they responding to the offers of this housing?”
Michelle Baird, Director of Housing Services:
“Right now, our outreach team is out as they always are. And they’re engaging with people on an ongoing daily basis, trying to find fits with the temporary spaces as well as the spaces that will come online at Tiffany/Barton.
“Because, you know, it depends on the individual what the best suited location is for them. And so there has been uptake into the temporary beds, and there’s definitely interest in folks who want to come into the Tiffany/Barton beds when they become available.
So there’s been uptake and interest, which is good news.
We do want to bring people into shelter beds, whether they be the temporary beds or Tiffany/Barton, because there are support services there to connect them into the system and support people as they move along their housing journey.”
Joey Coleman, TPR: “As anybody declined an offer to go into these micro-shelters.”
Michelle Baird, Director of Housing Services:
“So today we haven’t made official offers to the microshelters.
We’ve been talking to people about whether they want to go into the shelter beds that are open, because as soon as a bed comes online, outreach is out there to engaging with people to bring someone into that bed.
When the Tiffany Barton beds come online, we’ll be making those same offers.
Right now, it’s just dialogue about what’s a really good fit for the needs of the individuals.”
Production Details
v. 1.0.3
Published: December 19, 2024
Last updated: December 19, 2024
Author: Joey Coleman
Update Record
v. 1.0.0 original version - first question and answer
v. 1.0.1 second q&a added
v. 1.0.2 added q&a's 3 to 6
v. 1.0.3 added q&a 7
Headline Change
The original headline read: "Mayor Andrea Horwath on Barton / Tiffany Delays and Urban Boundary Expansion MZO." The MZO q&a is in a separate story.