Following a lengthy in-camera huddle with City legal staff council has voted to challenge the injunction that had barred the city from forcibly dismantling the tent encampments that have sprung up mainly in the downtown area. After the meeting safety director Paul Johnson said the city has ample shelter capability to house all who need it. In a stamen the city stated, “As a municipality, it is our responsibility to ensure we strike the right balance to support the health and safety requirements of our most vulnerable along with those of our entire community.”
The statement said the city had been in dialogue with the camp dwellers in an effort to”
• educate them about their options to find legal housing/shelter/hotel accommodations,
• ensure they understand health and safety expectations including rules applicable to preserving safety within shelters.
To date, these efforts connected over 100 individuals to safer and more humane living conditions. Hamilton City Council continues to support the successful work of the City’s Encampment Taskforce. “
The release noted that since the pandemic began no-one who has requested shelter has been turned away. The City’s legal team is working on gathering further evidence to challenge the current injunction prohibiting the City from involuntarily removing residents of encampments.
Of course in all this discussion, the voices of the homeless are not heard.
A shelter is not housing, period. Do people realize that whomever sleeps in a shelter is kicked out first thing in the morning and left to their own devices. Has the city ever tracked the actions of the numerous not for profits to document what they actually do to connect people to support services. Based on my knowledge, they dont.
The city should of designated an area , a safe space for them to set up and let the health professionals figure out how to connect people to the services they need. Why not built little houses, better then a tent.
I thought the city was broke yet it just gave The Good Shephard $1,250,000 to build shelter capacity which many will not use. What a waste of resources.
Of course none of the councillors or the mayor have had to navigate the system they have created. It is the hamster wheel of despair.
I thank the efforts of Councillors Nann, Wilson and Danko for their foresight.