Mayors' caucus asks federal government for more money to improve safety in city centres

Group wants Ottawa to invest $3.5 billion annually to reduce homelessness

Mayors of Canada’s largest cities are asking Ottawa to earmark billions of dollars for the revitalization of downtown cores ahead of the federal government's fall budget.

At a news conference on Thursday, the Big Cities Mayors’ Caucus of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities said the group wants the federal government to follow through with a recommendation from its Parliamentary Budget Officer to invest $3.5 billion annually to reduce chronic homelessness by at least 50 per cent by 2030.

Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack, a member of the Big Cities Mayors’ Caucus of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, said all levels of government must work together to strengthen local economies and increase city safety.

These investments could be a step in the right direction, he said.

“It's just asking for the federal government … to work in partnership with provincial governments, to work in partnership with municipalities, to take leadership on an issue that needs a co-ordinated response,” he said Thursday.

The caucus sees the funds as addressing three priorities: local infrastructure development, homelessness eradication and increasing downtown safety.

Many of the concerns highlighted by the caucus relate back to public safety.

Efforts to tackle homelessness and organized crime could have the impact of attracting people and businesses downtown, the caucus said, noting that increased transit infrastructure can also contribute to busier, more vibrant city centres.

The caucus wants Ottawa to increase its 10-year investment into transit through the Canada Public Transit Fund by $5 billion, to $30 billion. The mayors are also asking the federal government to at least double the Build Communities Strong Fund to provide stable revenue for cities to further develop as they grow.

“Reliable public transit and updated roads and bridges unlock cities and support densification efforts,” a news release from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities states.

“That’s why federal investment in local infrastructure is essential.”

In order to combat homelessness, the caucus wants Ottawa to establish an intergovernmental working group to create solutions that will work in major cities.

These solutions, according to the news release, could include income support initiatives, mental health and addictions services and “deeply affordable housing options.”

The caucus is also asking the feds to put more cash toward its Building Safer Communities Fund to scale successful community-led crime prevention models to end gun and gang violence, according to the news release.

This push for funding toward increasing public safety comes as an Edmonton downtown advocacy group called on city council to make it the safest big city in Canada.

An April report from the Downtown Revitalization Coalition highlighted visible drug use and disorder as ongoing challenges in Edmonton's high-traffic public spaces, especially downtown.

Transit stations, LRT platforms and pedway corridors are “chronic hotspots” for disorder, according to the report. A CBC investigation earlier this year found transit-related crime more than doubled over a nine-year period in Edmonton, making the city's transit system one of the most dangerous in the country.

But Knack believes these concerns can be alleviated if Ottawa invests into public safety and eradicating homelessness.

“You do not solve this crisis by any one order of government trying to do it alone. You solve it by all three orders of government coming together.”

CBC News reached out to the federal government, but did not receive comment by publication time.

Iman Janmohamed is a reporter with CBC Edmonton. She previously worked as a digital editor for The Globe and Mail in Toronto and Vancouver. She is a member of the Canadian Association of Journalists and Investigative Reporters and Editors. You can reach her at Iman.Janmohamed@cbc.ca.

With files from Emily Williams, Travis McEwan and Andrea Huncar