Bylaw officers tell people encamped behind Hamilton city hall to clear out
Municipal law enforcement has told dozens of people living in tents behind Hamilton city hall to clear out.
Bylaw officers have issued 31 voluntary compliance notices to urge them to leave due to increasing health and safety concerns" at the encampment site.
That came as a surprise to Michael Pinto, who has lived for more than a month in a crowded laneway that runs from the back parking lot of city hall, behind Whitehern Historic House to MacNab Street South.
Nobody knows where they're going to go. Like, woke up thinking it was just another day," said Pinto, 46, as Shatter, his massive, shaggy Russian bear dog slept next to his tent Friday morning. I can't go to a shelter with him, and I won't."
But he also noted, like others at the encampment, that the cost of housing is simply out of reach.
Housing is hard to get. Almost impossible," remarked Pinto, who said being stabbed in 2021 sent him into a spiral that led to the loss of his employment and homelessness.
Later this month, city staff are expected to present a report to council on a new encampment-response strategy after consulting with service providers, as shelter operators raise alarm over packed facilities and bottlenecks created by eroding affordability in the housing market.
At the end of the day, the staff moved ahead with the existing ... agreed-upon council policy, if you will," Mayor Andrea Horwath said of the bylaw notices. But I think it's really clear that we need to update that in a way that makes sense for people, so it's a tough situation."
The voluntary compliance notices are effective immediately," city bylaw director Monica Ciriello told The Spectator via email.
Most complaints about the encampment have come from the general public but community organizations, visitors to city hall, municipal staff and Whitehern staff have also raised concerns, she said.
The nature of complaints involve garbage, open substance use, fires, propane tanks, staff health and safety concerns, and potential risk to the heritage asset," Ciriello said, noting firefighters have been to the site 21 times.
Before the notices were issued Thursday, housing-focused outreach staff had been at the site on average four to five times a week - 40 times overall - since March 1, she said.
The timing of the notices and the decision to disperse people from the site generally just doesn't make any sense," said Medora Uppal, CEO of YWCA Hamilton, which is on MacNab across from Whitehern.
The encampment has become a connection point" for various services where residents have settled, rather than being scattered to more remote parts of the city or residential areas, Uppal said.
YWCA staff are worried uprooting the encampment will drive more women and gender-diverse people to its overnight drop-in space than they can handle, she said, noting 54 visited on a recent night, a spike from an average of 30.
We don't have anywhere to send anybody, and we're going to be crammed full and have to turn people away because they'll have nowhere to go."
On MacNab, Jammy Pierre, who splits her time between a tent and the YWCA overnight space, called the bylaw notices bizarre," noting council recently declared homelessness, opioid and mental-health emergencies.
They haven't presented any solutions or alternatives and it's just back to square one."
During budget deliberations, a majority of the new council backed a $1.3-million encampment strategy that increases housing outreach, bylaw, parks and police resources, along with dedicated managers.
But city politicians, concerned the approach uproots people amid scant housing options, also directed staff to consult with service providers to explore a fresh protocol.
Coun. Nrinder Nann called the bylaw notices unfortunate" with the staff report on the new encampment approach coming up.
It's that limbo stage that we're in - between the tail-end of the enforcement strategy versus the onboarding of a new protocol."
The city can't keep telling people you can't go there," but must be able to guide them and support them," Coun. Cameron Kroetsch added.
Meanwhile, legal advocates behind a human rights-based court challenge of the city's existing encampment policies said they were disappointed" to learn of the bylaw notices, lawyers Sharon Crowe and Ashley Wilson wrote in an email on behalf of their team.
Not only will this threatened eviction inflict another layer of harm and trauma, it is inconsistent with the current legal landscape," they stated, referring to a recent ruling that found efforts in Waterloo Region to disperse encampment residents were unconstitutional.
Moreover, they added, the city has repeatedly acknowledged the ongoing shortage of shelter beds and/or accessible shelter beds, and our litigation team is currently in the midst of resolution discussions" with the municipality.
City officials, meanwhile, have also called attention to a shortage of funding for affordable housing from senior levels of government and, in particular, a lack of provincial health dollars for support services to help people with severe mental-health and addiction challenges stay off the street.
Council wants the city to be more supportive" of those experiencing homelessness, Horwath said.
We also recognize that we need other orders of government as well to help us with providing the kinds of support that people need."
In the laneway behind Whitehern, John Corby credited a supportive-housing pilot project for helping him get off the street and saving his life.
I'd be dead. I truly believe it," said Corby, who lives in a CityHousing apartment but was visiting friends at the encampment Friday morning.
The city needs more affordable housing and programs like the one that helped him, he said. I'm one of the lucky ones."
Teviah Moro is a reporter at The Spectator. tmoro@thespec.com