Hamilton tears down ‘defund’ encampment in front of city hall

Hamilton handed out trespass tickets and tore down defund" protest tents in the rain in front of city hall Monday.

A coalition of advocates set up in the forecourt on Main Street last Monday calling for a 50 per cent cut to the Hamilton police budget and reallocation of funds to affordable housing. At least some homeless residents joined the encampment during the week, swelling the number of tents beyond 20.

The city ordered the tents to be removed, citing a bylaw and COVID-19 health concerns over too-large gatherings. The group was given a deadline of Sunday at midnight to get rid of the tents and shrink the number of people gathered in the forecourt to 25 or fewer.

Protesters were still on site early Monday, calling for rain tarps and urging Mayor Fred Eisenberger to come see us," when city bylaw officers began issuing trespass notices shortly before 9 a.m. Demonstrators posted videos of police on scene and city workers collapsing tents and dragging them into trucks.

The city issued a release early Monday that said the protest can continue, but pandemic health rules require gatherings to be limited to 25 people or fewer. It said the demonstration had more than once resulted in crowds of more than 75 people and that an assault with a metal bar" had been captured on security camera near city hall.

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association issued a release Monday urging the city to respect the right to protest.

Charging people is not the solution because it ends up being quite arbitrary who gets charged," said executive director Michael Bryant.

We must find a way in Canada to create opportunities for constitutionally protected protest within a pandemic context. Other countries have found a way to do this. Canadian cities and provinces can too."

The city release also said the mayor and city manager Janette Smith had offered to meet with a protest organizer over the weekend, but that offer was not accepted."

Sarah Jama, an organizer who was previously charged under provincial pandemic rules when the protest began, said she rejected the offer because it required a closed-door" private meeting she felt uncomfortable attending.

Come out and meet with us in public. Other councillors can do it, why not Fred?" she asked Monday morning, noting other council members like Terry Whitehead and John-Paul Danko had come out to talk with protesters.

Council has talked a lot about emergency housing options in recent months.

The city is reviewing rapid housing" options for nearly $11 million in emergency funds from the federal government that are supposed to add new, affordable housing units within the next year.

But the idea of pulling money directly out of the police budget to use for housing does not have widespread council support.

Jama said city leaders still owe demonstrators the opportunity to have that conversation" in a public forum.

She and more than a dozen other supporters remained in the rain, music blasting, as the city pulled down the remaining tents in the forecourt late Monday morning.

But around 12:30 p.m., the demonstrators started packing up the protest in front of city hall but vowed to continue the fight.

Matthew Van Dongen is a Hamilton-based reporter covering transportation for The Spectator. Reach him via email: mvandongen@thespec.com