The chair of the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit believes the City of Windsor should be bringing all parties together to figure out the future of the Isolation and Recovery Centre.
Gary McNamara, who's also the Warden of Essex County, says the resources required for the centre are not in the County and that social services and social housing are the responsibility of the City of Windsor, as the service manager for the region.
City Council approved a recommendation at Monday's meeting to withdraw from operating the IRC for temporary foreign workers, effective June 20, to allow time to transition operations to an alternative entity.
The report noted that the County of Essex, Leamington and Kingsville are closer to these operations and more appropriately suited to support their businesses, residents, industry organizations and work with upper levels of government and the Windsor Essex County Health Unit to operate the IRC, or develop longer term isolation plans to address the ongoing impact of COVID or any future health threat.
McNamara says they need to maintain the IRC beyond June but thinks the City should bring everyone together.
"We need to collectively work together to understand the roles and responsibilities of each and every party," he says. "As the service providers for housing and social services, it should be the City bringing the parties together."
McNamara also points out that operating an IRC does not fall within the mandate of the health unit, nor do they have the resources.
Monday's report to Council on the IRC noted that "the model is no longer a crisis response, but a stable and sustainable administrative response. The expertise of the Human and Health Services division at the City of Windsor and the Windsor Fire and Rescue Services/CEMC has been fully implemented and this level of expertise is no longer required.
The City has been operating the IRC since the summer of 2020 to help migrant farm workers in the region isolate as a result of a positive COVID-19 test.