The Mayor of Guelph is proposing a new tax to help address the societal issues in the city.
In a video posting on YouTube, Cam Guthrie brings up the idea of a 1 or 2 per cent levy that would go towards mental health, addictions, and homelessness initiatives.
He calls it the Provincial Impacts Local Levy, or PILL.
“It’s a levy that actually shows what is costing everybody (for) provincial inaction on things that (it) should be helping us with,” said Guthrie.
Guthrie says the levy would generate $4.2 Million, or $63 a year for an average home.
“Right off the top, we have the $750,000 for the hospital,” Guthrie said. “Underneath that, we have Bill 23, $2 Million. Underneath that, Bill 109, $275,000. What would be left over? Just over $1.1 Million, that could go towards homelessness, addictions, and the mental health issues the community is facing.”
Guthrie says he will be bringing this up at the next Council meeting and wants to work with his council colleagues to get this together.
“I think we need to act to show transparency,” said Guthrie. “I also think we need to take action, especially on homelessness, mental health, and addictions. And it is going to cost money.”
During the municipal election, the Waterloo Wellington chapter of the Canadian Mental Health Association and the Grove Wellington Guelph launched a campaign to make mental health and wellness an election issue.
“We thought it was a good time to talk about how we engage our local and provincial politicians in prioritizing children and youth mental health,” said Krista Sibbilin, the executive director of CMHA Waterloo Wellington.
Executive director of the Grove, Cyndy Forsyth, added, “We really need to look at what this pandemic as done for wellness in our community and how we can really address it.”
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