Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OBCM) have launched the “Solve the Crisis” campaign to ask the province to appoint a responsible ministry and minister as a single point of contact to “address the full spectrum of housing needs” as well as mental health, addictions and wraparound supports.
“The number of people who are unhoused, as well as those suffering with mental health and addiction issues, is growing at an alarming rate, and municipalities cannot tackle this crisis alone,” said Marianne Meed Ward, OBCM chair and mayor of Burlington, Ont. “We need the province, along with all levels of government and community partners, to implement the programs that have proven to be effective. This cannot wait, we must work together to solve this crisis now.”
The mayors say the province should also strike a task force to develop a “made in Ontario” action plan to tackle homelessness while providing municipalities with the tools and resources to transition people in encampments to more appropriate supports when it is deemed necessary.
London, Ont. Mayor Josh Morgan said he has “witnessed firsthand” the devastating impacts of homelessness and the urgent need for comprehensive solutions.
“Our city, like many others, has been working tirelessly to address this crisis, but we cannot do it alone,” he said. “[The campaign] is a crucial step in bringing together all levels of government and community partners to ensure that every Ontarian has access to safe, supportive housing and necessary mental health and addiction services. The only way we can solve this crisis is by working together.”
Harini Sivalingam, director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA)’s equality program, said the housing affordability crisis, when combined with the significant mental health challenges in society, has created a “perfect storm” in terms of the growth and development of encampments.
“All levels of government do share responsibility in tackling this issue that has really largely fell [sic] on local municipalities, which are under tremendous pressure,” she said. “But at the same time, there has to be a concern with respecting the rights and freedoms, and the dignity and autonomy, of unhoused encampment residents.”
Stepan Wood, University of British Columbia School of Law
University of British Columbia (UBC) law professor Stepan Wood said municipalities have shown a history of using the courts as a “kind of iron fist” to clamp down on encampments — and the courts have been “remarkably eager” to grant those evictions until very recently. In a recent report, he noted that judges in B.C. have begun to refuse injunctions against homeless encampments after granting every injunction request from 2000 to 2014.
“There really is a noticeable trend in B.C. — and also around the country — for courts to say maybe we’ve been too hasty to grant these injunctions in the past because clearly it’s not working,” he said. “This sort of ‘whack-a-mole’ approach where crackdown on encampments wherever they pop up is not making any difference to the problem.”
And this trend can be seen in decisions like Regional Municipality of Waterloo v. Persons Unknown and to be Ascertained, 2023 ONSC 670, where Ontario Superior Court Justice Michael Valente ruled an injunction sought by the Region of Waterloo to evict a homeless encampment on municipal property went against the residents’ Charter rights to life, liberty and security of the person because of the lack of shelter space in Waterloo region.
Wood said it has now become the prevailing approach of the courts to say you need to convince us there are adequate alternative shelter options for encampment residents — and that has really forced governments to reconsider their approaches.
“But that’s really gone in two directions — some of the governments have tried to explore options that are more supportive of the people experiencing homelessness, but others like the city of Edmonton have taken the opposite approach, which is to clear encampments using existing police powers without actually going to the courts to ask for an injunction,” he said. “Some people have realized that the courts might not be as friendly as they once were, and so they just take direct action.”
Sivalingam said government actions need to be Charter compliant and can’t breach individual rights — especially those of vulnerable and marginalized individuals. And she said that community access to public space is important but noted unhoused encampment residents are members of the community as well.
“Most encampment residents just want to have the same rights and freedoms that all of us have — which is just to have a place to that they can call home and that they feel safe and secure,” she said. “What we are good at in Canadian society is balancing rights and freedoms, especially when they come up against each other. And I think these are one of those instances where you have to look at the rights of vulnerable and marginalized people in very dire situations and ensuring [sic] that we just respect their autonomy and their dignity.”
Wood said “obviously” building more affordable and low-barrier permanent housing is absolutely critical in tackling the issue of homelessness — but he agreed with Sivalingam that considering encampment residents’ rights must also be at the forefront of people’s thinking.
“The problem is multifaceted and so the solution has to be multifaceted — it’s about mental health supports, it’s about addressing the toxic drug crisis as both a public health and human rights crisis,” he said. “We have to take a human rights-based approach rather than a law and order-based approach, which looks at people who are experiencing homelessness as rights holders with a human right to life and health and liberty — and that means any solutions have to be centred around those people themselves.”
A spokesperson for Ontario’s Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH) said the province is focused on “solutions that protect peoples’ safety while continuing to build houses as quickly as possible,” pointing to over $240 million investments in Toronto and Ottawa for shelter and homelessness supports through the new deal agreements.
“We are also making historic investments in funding for homelessness prevention with a $700 million annual investment to grow and enhance community and supportive house — representing a more than 40 per cent increase in funding,” the spokesperson said. “We continue to call on the federal government to step up, pay their fair share and take more responsibility for the consequences of their policies that have escalated the number of individuals facing homelessness.”
But the spokesperson also said the “recent disastrous examples” of British Columbia and other jurisdictions have shown drug decriminalization does not work.
“Instead, it encourages dangerous behaviour in public spaces, victimizes innocent people and undermines law enforcement’s ability to protect our communities,” the spokesperson said. “Through this year’s historic budget, our government announced an additional investment of $396 million over three years for mental health and addiction services. This includes $124 million to support the Addictions Recovery Fund which will fund more addiction recovery beds and new mobile mental health clinics.”
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