Opinion regarding City of Kingston’s court process to remove Belle Park encampment
Editorial note: The following is a submitted opinion piece regarding the City of Kingston’s announcement that it has begun court proceedings to have the Superior Court of Ontario issue an order to remove those who remain camping – the “encampment” – at Belle Park, a City-owned park. The views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Kingstonist.
For the most part, those living at the Belle Park encampment were left alone.
Kingstonist reader Judy Mosher commented the following on this story via Facebook: “Shame…Just WHERE are they supposed to go???!!!”
Judy gets it. I hope you do too.
This isn’t just a Kingston issue. We can read similar stories happening right now in Sydney, Australia… Liverpool, England… Munich, Germany… and many more large and not-so-large communities. There’s no way to stop it, there’s no way to prevent it. This is where we are and where we’re going. I’ve seen more local spots to go for a free daily lunch and pick up free monthly groceries lately than I did five years ago, and five years before that.
Not one Belle Park camper grew up deciding this is the life for them. I sincerely believe there are not many “bad people,” if any at all, living there. Most are damaged from mental health issues, addiction, and/or mental/physical abuse. I also believe most would choose to sleep in a dumpster than be warehoused in a temporary shelter. I see increasingly more people sleeping on the sidewalks downtown with whatever belongings they can carry. This isn’t Cyberpunk and if we’re headed toward a dystopian future, it’s only a snapshot of things to come.
Politicians of every stripe can suggest and implement their ideas but, at the end of the day, it will only be a temporary bandage; they know it and they want us to buy into it. Everybody wants to point fingers and demand solutions. Not everything in life is that simple.
This is the world we created. Let them be.
Chris White
Kingston resident
Share your views! Submit a Letter to the Editor or an Op/Ed article to Kingstonist’s Editor-in-Chief Tori Stafford at [email protected].