Outreach coordinator Marcie McIlveen, a member of a Hamilton street health team Keeping Six, chats with Edward Langdon at a small tent encampment inside Tweedsmuir Park, in Hamilton, on June 29, 2021. Hamilton's proposed encampment plan included several rules around where people experiencing homelessness could set up shelter.Glenn Lowson/The Globe and Mail
Hamilton council has rejected a proposal that would have imposed new restrictions designed to limit the size and location of homeless encampments.
Hamilton declared a state of emergency over homelessness last month, as have other jurisdictions in Ontario, such as Toronto, Ottawa and the Niagara Region. Cities across Canada have also been grappling with what to do about homeless encampments that have formed in parks and other areas.
The proposed encampment plan, outlined in a staff report presented to council this week, included several rules around where people experiencing homelessness could set up camp. Those rules included limits on the number of tents permitted in a confined area and imposing restrictions on proximity to schools, child-care centres, playgrounds, pools and other prohibited areas, such as sports fields, skate parks and fitness amenities.
The staff acknowledged that council heard calls for the city to create “sanctioned” encampments, but the report recommended that council study the issue further before making any decisions.
Council voted to direct city staff to come back with a revised version that would make it easier for people experiencing homelessness to know where they can go, said Councillor Cameron Kroetsch.
Mr. Kroetsch said he voted against the proposal after hearing concerns from the community that the plan wasn’t centred around the people who would be most impacted.
“The policy was rooted more in enforcement,” he said.
Opinion: Belongings are essential to personhood. Why would we deny this dignity to homeless people?
Mr. Kroetsch said the protocol was missing a “human-rights” approach, which he said is what the original council direction asked for.
“Right now, as I heard from staff, if we don’t have housing for people to go to, ultimately they’re not going to be able to enforce unless there’s a significant or very serious health and safety concern,” he said.
But Councillor Matt Francis said the city’s focus should be on enforcement.
“I prefer an enforcement-first approach,” he said. “This plan is a housing-first approach. I’m all for compassionate solutions, but we can’t abandon our responsibility.”
Mr. Francis said constituents in his ward were loud and clear that they oppose any scenario that would allow encampments, which he warned would leave drug paraphernalia in parks and playgrounds.
“What’s happening right now is near and dear to all of us. And we all want compassionate solutions,” he said. “I think how we get there is what we disagree on. I think this is the inevitable road that we’re going on. Eventually, we’re going to have to take an enforcement approach.”
Monica Ciriello, director of the city’s licensing and bylaw services division, said in a statement that encampments continue to be a complex and multifaceted issue and the result of several interconnected challenges. Those challenges include a lack of affordable housing, subsidized housing, and housing with supports in the community, as well as low social assistance rates, an increased cost of living, substance use, and real or perceived barriers to accessing emergency shelters or other services within the homelessness serving system.
Ms. Ciriello’s statement said the city will move forward with public consultations on sanctioned encampment sites in the coming weeks with a report back to a council committee in August. The report will include the results of the consultation and an updated encampment protocol.