NRH changes need review, prof says
The head of a Brock university think-tank fears significant changes being considered for the operation of Niagara Regional Housing could have more to do with political ideology than enhancing services.
“I have my worst fears,” said Niagara Community Observatory director Charles Conteh. “It’s part ideology, it’s part politics and, quite frankly, it’s simply power.”
Conteh also fears a report recommending changes “does not sit on solid evidence.”
The report developed by consultant Ernst & Young Orenda Corporate Finance Inc. was approved by public health committee members in March, recommending the adoption of a hybrid model for the operation of Niagara Region’s social housing programs.
It recommended allowing NRH to continue managing its social housing real estate, but administrative functions would be taken over by the Region’s community services division.
Committee members referred the recommendations to community services commissioner Adrienne Jugley to review.
Jugley she said political ideology had nothing to do with the report’s development. And she’d be more concerned if the recommendations were not consistent with the way social housing programs are managed in other jurisdictions.
“The direction to the consultant was to look at it from a client lens,” she said. “The recommendations that have come out … have been in terms of improved access to services for clients — that’s the focus. The focus was not around cost savings or efficiencies, that was not the findings or why they recommended we consider this.”
Conteh, however, questioned the amount of consultation included within the report.
Conteh wrote to Regional Chair Alan Caslin last week, saying options included in the document for council’s consideration were “artificially created constraints on the range of administrative possibilities, without sufficient justification grounded in best practices or the extant literature.”
He asked Caslin to meet with researchers and community experts to review the report, focusing on the methodology used in its development and vetting the data that provided the basis for the recommendations.
Caslin responded to the letter by setting up a meeting with Conteh.
“I’m looking forward to meeting with him and regional staff on April 30 to discuss his concerns and ensure all the correct and relevant information is made available,” Caslin told The Standard in a text message.
Jugley said her review will include additional consultation with stakeholders, as she determines if she can provide “more services to clients that are waiting for social housing, for people who are in social housing, or for people who … are eligible for those services, and maybe see them as inaccessible because there’s such a long wait.”
Her report should be ready to present to regional council by July.
NRH chair Henry D’Angela said there are about 5,000 families waiting for placement in social housing in Niagara, which works out to roughly 10,000 individuals.
“I think that’s fabulous to actually go down that track, to get Brock University involved in this. They’re an independent body. They have no real gain from any report that they’re doing regarding housing,” said D’Angela, a Thorold regional councillor. “I think it would be good and helpful for council to see something like that to make sure the methodology was correct in the way it came forward.”
D’Angela said Jugley’s review of the consultant’s recommendation will allow council to decide if “we want to continue pushing the ball forward on this issue.”