On October 31st, 12 Mayors from across Ontario wrote a letter to Premier Doug Ford, requesting more powers to deal with the growing homeless and encampment crisis in our cities. Five of those mayors were from 905 cities.

In the letter, the mayors went the extra step to request the Notwithstanding Clause be used if necessary to give them the ability to override court decisions regarding the Charter Rights of homeless. Needless to say this has proven to be a controversial point. Some have gone so far as to say it’s an overreach of government and a step too far. Mayors on the other hand are saying they have exhausted the limited powers granted to them to deal with this problem.

We wanted to reach out to one of the signatories from the 905 to find out what made them decided to request such a controversial and impactful option with the Notwithstanding Clause.

Joining us today is Mayor of St. Catharines Mat Siscoe, who outlines his argument for why this option needs to be on the table.

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Nicholas Paul: sound editing.

The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!

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