Motion slated to be discussed at council Wednesday comes after multiple youth-involved shootings in downtown.
May 13, 2026 2 min read
Mayor Andrea Horwath is pitching the creation of a new “youth wellness hub” for Hamilton in the aftermath of the shooting deaths of two teens just six days apart last month.
There are already 32 such hubs across Ontario, launched with provincial help, which provide walk-in, youth-friendly spaces for teens and young adults to be able to access a wide range of mental health, substance abuse counselling and other social services.
In a motion going to council Wednesday, the mayor said she will formally request “sustained provincial funding” for such a hub in Hamilton. The motion also notes Horwath has already had discussions with associate attorney general Michael Tibollo about the possibility as recently as last month.
The mayor is also directing city staff to collaborate with Hamilton’s Child and Youth Network to develop a youth wellness hub “tailored to local needs.”
Cathie Coward The Hamilton Spectator file photo
The network includes community organizations, police, social service agencies and other groups committed to improving local outcomes for children, youth and their families. It already had a working group examining what such a hub could look like because the idea was identified as a priority in Hamilton’s community safety and well-being plan.
Denise Scott, Wesley’s senior director of children, youth and family services told The Spectator Tuesday the proposed hub is an “exciting” opportunity for Hamilton youth, adding it will bring cross-sectoral collaboration of resources to meet the needs of youth in the city. She said any way groups can co-ordinate services is going to improve services and access for youth, but noted it is too early to say what a potential hub could look like.
However, she noted many organizations, including Wesley, need further investment and are facing a gap in funding brought on by the recent end of support from the federal Building Safer Communities Fund, which affected nine youth-serving agencies focused on violence prevention, outreach, mentorship and gang prevention programming.
“The need is quite great and we need further supports,” she said.
The motion will be debated about two weeks after Talon Williams-Parkin, 19, was killed in an “exchange of gunfire” inside a ninth-floor unit of 191 Main St. W., a CityHousing Hamilton building that mostly houses seniors. That shooting death came just days after Nabil Askafe, 16, was gunned down in the entrance to Jackson Square on April 24, allegedly shot by a 14-year-old boy.
Horwath, in her motion, referenced both shooting deaths among “deeply troubling high-profile incidents” involving youth and gun violence. She also noted the 2025 shooting deaths of Belinda Sarkodie of Mohawk College student Harsimrat Randhawa.In a recent interview, the mayor told The Spectator the city has some “real challenges” around drugs, guns and youth in crisis. She said the issues are being discussed “at various tables” and local leaders are “not going to stop trying to find solutions.”
“There’s no magic wand,” the mayor said, but added she is committed to continuing to work on finding solutions, noting they will be “multifaceted.”
The recent fatal shootings, her motion stated, have “heightened public concern” about youth mental health and addiction, social isolation, gang recruitment and the lack of prevention-focused supports for vulnerable young people.
In the aftermath of the two most recent shootings, Hamilton police Chief Frank Bergen has also called for an urgent downtown safety meeting May 27, where the mayor, local business leaders, school board officials and community agencies are expected to discuss next steps around downtown safety and youth violence.
It won’t be the first meeting of minds on community violence.
Last year, Horwath hosted a community safety summit featuring front-line workers and educators, law enforcement, community leaders and residents. Stakeholders shared similar concerns about the challenges and trends around youth violence.
Mac Christie is a general assignment reporter with the Hamilton Spectator. Reach him at macchristie@thespec.com.
