'These are our sons and daughters who are suffering' — Sudbury city council tries to tackle poverty

Sudbury city council says it's time to take action on homelessness and addiction in the city and possibly cut other things from the municipal budget to pay for it.

Councillors voted Tuesday night to keep warming centres open seven days a week this winter and to start drawing up plans to build transitional housing to get people off the street.

The warming centres will be paid for with $375,000 in provincial and federal poverty funding.

City councillor Deb McIntosh says this will be a tough budget year given extra pandemic costs, but she wants to find something to cut in order to pay for more housing help. 

"So I'm going to ask you to start thinking about what we are willing to give up in order to find the money to provide this supportive housing. The money will be an investment with a tremendous payback for our entire community. A payback in years of productive living," she told council.

"These are our sons and daughters who are suffering. And it's time for long-term solutions towards a healthy community for everyone."

Sudbury mayor Brian Bigger also told council he thinks its time to spend more city tax dollars on poverty, instead of always relying on provincial and federal funding. 

City councillor Fern Cormier argued that the warming centres will provide "immediate relief," especially for younger people on Sudbury's streets who don't have a dedicated shelter. 

"By no means is this an ultimate solution," he told council. 

"I know we as a community will do better."

City councillor Robert Kirwan called the two unanimously approved motions "a feel-good thing" but wanted to find a way for the city to do more. 

"Nobody's going to turn this down because it's something. But I don't think this really addresses the problem," he said.