Opinion: Region of Waterloo court case and Kingston encampments
Editorial note: The following is a submitted op/ed article. The views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Kingstonist.
Last month, a landmark ruling by the Ontario Superior Court asserted the rights of people who are unhoused in the Region of Waterloo. In response to the threat of eviction by the City, the Hon. Justice M.J. Valente ruled that unhoused residents of an encampment in downtown Kitchener had the right to remain due to a lack of adequate indoor shelter available in the region. Justice Valente’s decision established that an eviction would be a violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Section 7, which states that “Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof.”
This ruling sets a precedent across Ontario, including Kingston, where people who are unhoused have had very similar experiences. The City of Kingston, just like Waterloo, has failed to engage in meaningful consultation with encampment residents. The City has yet to provide enough accessible options to those who are unhoused, and has chosen, instead, to evict them from the only safe place they could find to live – together outdoors. In issuing these traumatic evictions, they have increased the risk of harm and fatality among unhoused people by forcing them away from life-saving services. Subsequently, the City of Kingston, just like Waterloo, has violated the rights of its own residents.
Since 2020, Belle Park has been home to encampments of unhoused people who have gone through a series of threatened and enforced evictions. This January, residents were issued a warning of a mass eviction. With pressure from community groups, residents who are unhoused, and allies, City Hall postponed the evictions until March 21st, 2023.
We, as community members and neighbours in solidarity with encampment residents, demand that the City of Kingston provide accessible housing options for all. The City must take direction from encampment residents about their needs and provide options that meet them. Until then, all evictions are a clear Charter violation and a violation of people’s inherent dignity and right to self-determination.
Insufficient, inadequate, and inaccessible housing options
The Waterloo ruling rested, in part, on the fact that the number of accessible (i.e., low barrier) shelter beds available in the region was far below the number of people who are unhoused, meaning that an eviction would leave many with nowhere to turn.
Like Waterloo, the City of Kingston has yet to provide enough accessible options to those who are unhoused. Just before the eviction threatened in January, the City of Kingston announced a new overnight warming center available for the winter. While having spaces to stay warm is critical, simply increasing the number of beds available is not enough given that these spaces are not low barrier. As many at the January 10, 2023, City Council meeting – including some councillors and City staff – pointed out, even if the City did have enough physical beds available, they would be insufficient since many of these spaces are not accessible to those who need them.
For years, residents who are unhoused in Kingston have described the inadequacies of shelters to anyone who would listen. Many shelters are intolerant of drug use, lack privacy, are far from services (such as the Integrated Care Hub), lack emergency medical care, and have prohibitive rules around possessions and pets. These are all barriers that make shelters inaccessible. When encampment residents have declined these options based on their identified needs, the City has shifted the blame onto them, perpetuating the harmful narrative that people who are unhoused simply prefer encampments and will reject other options. If the City of Kingston had been listening to people who are unhoused, they could have by now built accessible options that would have reduced or eliminated these known barriers. Services such as the ICH (which is regularly at or over capacity) or the Sleeping Cabins (which have a long waiting list) make it clear that people will go to the places where their needs are met. The City of Kingston has not done its due diligence; they have not meaningfully engaged with people who are unhoused to develop truly accessible housing and shelter options.
Mitigating potential harm: Benefits of encampments and risks in evictions
The arguments in the 52-page court document of the Waterloo court’s decision confirm what residents and their allies have long insisted (in Kingston and elsewhere): encampments allow people who are unhoused to meet their needs in the absence of better shelter options. Encampments form and persist because they are life-saving in their ability to facilitate the delivery of essential services, enable harm reduction practices, provide community, and, as a result, support mental and physical health. Dr. Andrea Sereda, a London-based doctor with 12 years of experience working with people who are unhoused, testified in the Waterloo hearing that encampments decrease transiency, enable better access to outreach services, reduce isolation, increase safety around drug use, and minimize sleep deprivation and enable rest, which is key to a person’s health and resiliency (The Regional Municipality of Waterloo v. Persons Unknown and to be Ascertained, 2023 ONSC 670).
In Kingston, the Belle Park encampment is incredibly protective. As stated, most shelters are inaccessible because they do not allow substance use. The ICH and Consumption Treatment Services (CTS) adjacent to the encampment provide essential care, harm reduction, and wrap-around services to people who are unhoused. In addition, people living in this encampment practice mutual aid. Residents look out for each other by not using alone, keeping an eye on each other, and managing conflict. When residents are forced out of encampments, they are moved further into the woods and away from each other, into places less easily accessed by care providers. This imposed displacement is traumatizing and disruptive and increases the levels of risk people face every day. The City’s decisions to evict carry the responsibility of these consequences.
Land use is irrelevant
Following the Waterloo ruling, Kingston Mayor Bryan Patterson was quick to insist that the context of the Belle Park encampment is different from the situation in Kitchener. He argues that the situations are not analogous because of the different land use in each case – the encampment is in a parking lot in Waterloo, whereas it is in a park in Kingston. The truth of the matter is that the land use is irrelevant; the Waterloo decision does not say that the ruling only applies to vacant public land. People have Section 7 rights to create shelter for themselves outside, whether on public property in a park or a vacant parking lot, in the absence of adequate, accessible housing options. The bylaws cited are irrelevant; any eviction here would pose the same violation of encampment residents’ inherent rights.
Real solutions now
With the increase in homelessness in many cities across the province, we, as communities, need to come together to hold all levels of government accountable and demand real solutions to the widespread housing crisis. However, we also can’t afford to wait for those solutions – people who are unhoused need solidarity right now. If staying outside is the best option available to some, we must find ways to help people survive and thrive outdoors. At the same time, we must continue to develop our own solutions, built on the values of community and care for all.
City Council’s decision in January made the threat of eviction on March 21 much more explicit than in the past. We urge community members to contact the City to demand that they rescind the eviction order and to plan to be in Belle Park on the 21st if they do not.
Toni Thornton and Kathleen Moritz
Mutual Aid Katarokwi/Kingston, Unhoused Solidarity
Mutual Aid Katarokwi/Kingston
(613) 777-2664
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