One city councillor wants homelessness to become an election issue by putting a question on the ballot when residents head to the polls this fall.
"It's clear that we aren't making good progress," said Coun. Peter Hume.
"The Alliance to End Homelessness showed us that (Tuesday). What this will do is it will put the issue in front of the citizens of Ottawa from Cumberland to Kanata and it will become one of those defining issues in the election."
Hume wants residents to decide if they want the city to move forward with a goal to end chronic homelessness by 2014. The strategy would cost at least $5 million per year.
An annual report card released by the Alliance to End Homelessness on Tuesday indicated the city is struggling when it comes to ending homelessness in the capital.
The average length of a stay at an emergency shelter was 57 days in 2009 -- nearly one week longer than the average stay in 2008.
The report also showed a jump in the number of families, youth and children who've experienced homelessness in the past year.
Hume wants the city to move towards a comprehensive approach that would focus on affordable housing and build on a recommendation put forward by the Leadership Table on Homelessness.
The group's research suggests it will cost $18,000 to provide a homeless person with a permanent home and the necessary social services.
Meantime, the current system costs the government about $100,000 to pay for the same homeless person. That includes the cost of emergency services, public health, social and legal services.
A city committee will consider Hume's ballot question at a meeting on Tuesday.
