I hope you are doing well. It’s certainly been a while since we have spoken.

I want to begin my email by thanking you for your kind words in the Niagara Now press from March that I actually just recently saw (“Mental health advocate asks town council to acknowledge crisis,” March 28).

In a written statement, Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa said he “appreciate(s) Mr. Soos’ presentation and efforts.”

I also appreciate you taking the time to write a statement to thank me for my efforts on mental health, homelessness and addiction.

It is my continued hope that Niagara-on-the-Lake council will join the cities of Welland, Thorold, Niagara Falls, Grimsby, St. Catharines, Wainfleet and Niagara Region in some type of acknowledgement on the issues of mental health, homelessness/housing affordability and addiction.

Though I greatly appreciate your kind words in the press, lord mayor, I still wonder why Niagara-on-the-Lake council has not taken action on these issues despite the fact that I have delegated three times on the matter, pleading with them for some type of acknowledgement, which does not cost Niagara-on-the-Lake any money to do so.

I would like Niagara-on-the-Lake to be a partner in tackling these issues, which can affect any of our friends and family members, no matter who they are or where they come from.

I have presented to Niagara-on-the-Lake council in 2020, 2024 and 2025.

Despite my continued advocacy, Niagara-on-the-Lake council as a whole chose to stay silent. In my most recent delegation, there was not even one response from a councillor in the response to the delegation section of the agenda.

It’s disheartening to me and Cheryl’s years-long advocacy not to see any kind of concrete follow-up on the matter.

Recently, I sent two detailed letters to the provincial and federal governments calling on more upper-tier funding for the state of emergency on mental health, homelessness and addiction.

I have also put together a comprehensive list of needs to the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre on mental health, homelessness and addiction services. Part of the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre’s mandate is to bring multiple provincial ministries together to better coordinate, communicate and collaborate states of emergencies in Ontario.

In addition, I have also reached out to the provincial minister of emergency preparedness and the federal minister of emergency management and community resilience, hoping to see them work together in providing Niagara Region some assistance.

Finally, I have made contact with the Governor General and the lieutenant-governor of Ontario, who also play a large role in emergency management and who have the power to provide overall direction in states of emergencies and with the premier, can make declarations of a provincial emergency.

I am hoping to raise this topic to the provincial standing committee on social policy when parliament resumes in October.

My hope for Niagara-on-the-Lake council is that they will have a voice in the matter by sending correspondence to Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates and Niagara Falls–Niagara-on-the-Lake MP Tony Baldinelli to push their respective governments to send Niagara Region more help with these complex social issues.

Niagara-on-the-Lake residents also pay regional taxes, which are used partly to fund homelessness services (they are also the homelessness services managers for Niagara), and therefore, residents should be concerned about these matters in Niagara-on-the-Lake as well.

Lord mayor, I want to thank you in advance for reviewing my email and I look forward to your response and any questions or further discussion you may have for me on these matters. Please do not hesitate to contact me anytime via telephone or email.

Lastly, I am going to provide a written request that my email be included on the public agenda for the next meeting of Niagara-on-the-Lake council so that council can receive this important feedback on my experience in the last delegation and be educated on emergency management as a whole.

I would appreciate it if the clerk could confirm with me when it is posted to the agenda.