2026 Candidates for Council,

The city of Peterborough has developed a program to house it residents during the winter in modular cabins.  Peterborough is garnering attention both provincially and across the country for this project, as cities and towns are trying to develop solutions to get people out of encampments. The city and its partner agencies also examined similar projects in other communities, including an outdoor shelter in Waterloo Region, Kitchener's A Better Tent City and Kingston's sleeping cabins pilot program. You can read a number of articles on this initiative aimed at providing the homeless with a warm bed during the winter months. Click Here to Read About Just One of Them

CBC News reported that 50 unhoused people were selected to live in the units on a former parking lot after Peterborough decided the 106-square-foot modular cabins, arranged in four rows, were one way to address what it calls its "unprecedented" problem of homelessness. City staff say there are challenges to running the site three months after it opened, but there have been signs of success, too. We know that the majority council members believe that Owen Sound’s homeless are the County’s problem. However, this is an opportunity for Owen Sound to be a leader among County municipalities.

Council has never been hesitant in the past to spend our tax dollars on services that are not at all highly valued by most of the community. Council approved a 77% increase the Art Gallery budget over the last 5 years. As a result, we now spend $220,482 more each year on the Art Gallery than we did in 2018. In addition, Council approved two Art Gallery studies aimed at providing the gallery with a $25 million building expansion. Interestingly, the cost of all of these studies exceeds, $100,000, which is pretty much the same as cost a number of these modular units that potentially could save a life this winter.

The community survey indicated that the Art Gallery services were valued by less than 8% of residents. In contrast "affordable housing, cost of living, and homelessness" was identified as the number one issue facing Owen Sound today. These issues were also at the top of the list in the Vision 2050 Study.