You are hired as a special advisor to the Mayor of a medium sized city: Humberaina, Ontario.
Fantastic news! We've Found the answer you've been seeking!
Question:
Your city was once a Great Lakes port city. With a large dockyard, locks, and cargo facility. Humberania also had a large pulp and paper mill that was fed by logging from the surrounding Indigenous and non-Indigenous logging towns. Over the last 20 years the port and the mills have largely moved to automated production and as a result unemployment in your town is high. The town is within three hours of the provincial capital and as a result the COVID -
19 pandemic has caused many people to relocate to Humberania from the city. Housing prices are up and new developments are everywhere. The people of Humberania have welcomed this change. For the first time since the 1980's there was a sense of hope for the town Humberania is the center of the local area, to the north and east of Humberania are three large neighbouring logging towns. These towns depend on Humberania for fire and emergency services. These smaller towns and surrounding villages pay tax dollars each year to Humberania for these services.
To the west of Humberania is the boundary of a large area of land claimed by a local Anishinaabe Indigenous group. There are currently several Indigenous villages and hamlets that populate this area. Humbernia city council has been a key advocate for settlement of the claims on the city limits and backed up the local Indigenous group as they were successfully granted land rights in the past few years. The city also partnered with the Anishinaabe group in a successful effort to prevent a large corporation from harvesting water from springs that flow along the border between the city and Indigenous lands.
Situation:
During 2022 the economic situation has changed dramatically During the beginning of the pandemic a small community of unhoused persons moved into an area that was clear cut to provide logs for the mill. This area with low brush and abandoned logging roads was called "Camp Freedom" by the people living there. In 2022 inflation increased, addictions became more prevalent, and government supports related to the pandemic have been reduced. Camp Freedom has swelled from several dozen inhabitants to several hundred.
Fires have been a major issue in the camp. There were a number of large propane explosions a few weeks ago and sadly a family of four died in a tent fire this past week.
People in the city are afraid a major fire would either spread to the city or wipe out the logging lands they depend on for industry. The Indigenous communities are also concerned about fires and the danger this poses to their lands.
A new Mayor has been elected in Humberania in this fall's election. They did not campaign about Camp Freedom. The recent fires however have spurred them to take action.
They have promised that their will be no more fires at the camp, and the city will be safe.
The mayor has said to the media "Don't worry, my special advisor is on this file and they will solve it".
Stakeholder Reaction:
The issue with building a solution is that there are many strong opinions about the encampment:
- The local townspeople are tired of the fires, drug use, and increased crime that the encampment has brought. They want the encampment removed.
- The local fire union is wary of the fire service being used as a scapegoat to force people our of the encampment in the name of fire safety. The union leader has said their members "joined the service to help people, not evict desperate people from their only shelter".
- The Provincial Government is afraid that the encampment if broken up will send more unhoused people to the Provincial capital. That city is already having issues with the decommissioning of many temporary shelters created in the pandemic.
- The Federal Government is against the pulp mill and the logging of the lands. They do not want to help with the encampment as they believe they will be perceived to be supporting the logging industry.
- The local Indigenous group is not happy with the encampment. They have used the proceeds from a recent settlement with the federal government to house many of their unhoused persons. They are also active in providing social services to the encampment.
They feel Humberaina is letting the Indigenous group do all of the heavy lifting in the encampment. In particular, the fire service in the Indigenous territory is smaller than Humberania's however, they seem to be doing the majority of the firefighting in the encampment due to Humberiania having most of their stations and resources located on the other side of town where they cover both Humberania and the small towns that pay for fire services.
Considerations:
The situation in the encampment is growing worse. Overdoses, assaults, fires, and deaths due to exposure are all increasing.
Given the ongoing pandemic, the mayor has requested the city give them some time to find a solution to the problem. You have until 18 April 2022 to recommend a plan to the Mayor. The citizens are demanding the encampment be broken up now, the fire union is threating job action if the fire service is used in a heavy-handed way to break up the camp, the province is pressuring you to solve the problem locally and leave other cities out of it, the Indigenous Community is upset about a lack of action, and the Federal Government does not want to appear to support a non green industry. The city also has a massive budget shortfall due to emergency spending during the pandemic. There is limited money to help with your solution.
Your Task:
Using the material covered in FRSE 241, write a recommendation for council in briefing note or similar format including proper academic sources and citations as discussed in class.
1. The key issue for the Federal, Indigenous, Provincial, Municipal Government as well as the fire union in this situation
Expert Answer:
Introduction Humberania is facing a complex challenge with Camp Freedom an encampment that has grown significantly leading to fires safety concerns and various socioeconomic issues As the special advi... View the full answer
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