Monday night’s city council meeting was probably the closest thing to a 1960s romance the Ronald A. Irwin Civic Center has ever seen. It was the last council meeting for Mayor Provenzano and the outgoing Coun. Paul Christian, Rick Niro and Donna Hilsinger, with many kind words said by and to them. It was the Sault’s biggest political hug in recent memory, with Provenzano wiping away tears in several places as he valiantly tried to lead the meeting with his three young daughters – Alice, Ilsa and Chloe – at his side. But he broke his temper at one point to express a strongly worded view on the local police budget. “It was recently reported that the city is underfunding its police department,” Provenzano said. “I understand the reflex to see investment in policing as a solution. I spent over seven years in the police force and I can attest that our officers have very difficult jobs.” “The pressure of the opioid epidemic and the challenges of our mental health and addiction are being felt clearly and materially in this building by both our uniformed and non-uniformed members.” “However, the fact is that we are steadily increasing spending on the police service.” In 2015. we budgeted and spent $25.5 million.” “In 2021 we budgeted $31.5 million and spent $32.4 million.” “That’s a $7 million increase in money spent between 2015 and 2021.” “We are increasing the budget again for 2022 with another increase planned for 2023.” Referring to communities of comparable size to Sault Ste. Marie, Provenzano pointed out that we spend the same on policing per capita as North Bay, and “more on policing per capita than all of Timmins, Sarnia, Belleville and Sudbury.” “We’re only outspent by Thunder Bay,” the mayor said. “I suggest to our council, the next council and our community at large that in a climate of very tight funds we need to be cautious and careful about increasing funding to address the knock-on effects of critical serious social challenges at the expense of addressing the core cause of these challenges”. “Simply put, every dollar we spend on treating the symptoms of the problem is one dollar less we have to address the real cause of the problem.” “To that end, the municipality can do very little to build health care infrastructure,” Provenzano said. The opioid epidemic is not improving, he noted. “It’s actually gotten worse, and Northern Ontario clearly has greater needs than the rest of the province. Our community’s mental health and addiction challenges are more acute. And homelessness is more prevalent here than ever.” Provenzano said functional health care infrastructure is outside the city’s funding capacity and legal jurisdiction. “But what we can do is invest in our social service infrastructure.” Provenzano said the Sault has 10 supportive housing beds and needs at least 80 more than that. “We have 83 shelter beds in our community and need at least 25 more in the near future. We need more funding to expand our pathway.” Provenzano expressed confidence that Mayor-elect Matthew Shoemaker is up to the task. “He is a smart and capable individual who is committed to our community.” “I know he can serve our community well and I will always be there to support him in his leadership.” “It was a dream job for me,” Provenzano said. “And while I didn’t get everything right all the time. I believe I got most things right most of the time. I can unequivocally say that I did my best. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to serve our community and the continued support and your constant kindness.” Council then passed a resolution thanking the outgoing mayor and councilors for their passion and zeal during a combined 48 years of service. “Each has been a champion of causes that were near and dear to them and their constituents during their time in office,” the resolution said.
