Bylaw issue trespass notices to people encamped behind Hamilton city hall

Municipal law enforcement has issued trespass notices to dozens of people living in tents behind Hamilton city hall.

They follow voluntary compliance notices handed out in early May to urge those encamped around the nearby Whitehern historic site to clear out.

Housing outreach staff have been at the encampment four to five times a week since March 1, but the 27 trespass notices were handed out Thursday amid escalating health and safety concerns," including two recent assaults there, bylaw and licensing director Monica Ciriello said.

Outreach staff will continue to work with those at the encampment, but shelters, save for some bed turnover as people come and go, are full.

Right now, the system is under a lot of pressure," housing director Michelle Baird said.

Talal Abdulwahid, who has lived in the laneway behind Whitehern for months, said he'd pack up and go by nightfall.

I have to leave," the 50-year-old said. But he wasn't certain where he'd find a place to resettle. I don't know."

The Whitehern trespass notices came a day after council debated a draft encampment protocol and exploration of sanctioned" sites that staff are to float for public feedback before reporting back in August.

City politicians are divided on the issue, but insist the city alone can't solve the homelessness crisis. They have called on the province, in particular, to fund health services to help those with complex issues stay housed.

It's profoundly absurd that we are having this conversation at this council level and that we are being joined by other municipalities in having this conversation," said Coun. Maureen Wilson, noting vital services, including social housing, have been downloaded onto local governments for years.

Not only is it absurd, not only is it embarrassing," Coun. Nrinder Nann added, I would go a step further and say it's an absolute dereliction of duty."

The city spends millions of dollars every single year" on housing and homelessness initiatives, far outstripping provincial funds, Coun. John-Paul Danko said. That is not sustainable."

Meanwhile, use of enforcement, which adheres to bylaws that bar tents in parks and other urban spaces, has been a flashpoint of contention. Staff say there are about 100 tent sites with a varying number of people in each in Hamilton.

The city successfully housed" 34 people out of the 303 housing outreach workers engaged" at encampments between May 1, 2022, and April 30, 2023, a staff report noted.

That's about 11 per cent, noted Wilson, remarking, So when we talk about enforcement ... there is nowhere to go. We're tapped out."

Last week, advocates drove that point home while raising concerns that the draft protocol's array of rules regulating where clusters of up to five tents could be placed left few options for people and failed to underscore their human rights.

In turn, a majority of councillors rejected staff's recommended approach. That disappointed" him, Danko said Wednesday, calling the draft protocol a compromise" that focuses on outreach but still relies on enforcement.

The city can't ignore" issues like open drug use," theft, assaults and public sex acts," he said, noting 100 per cent" of his Mountain ward residents don't want tents in their neighbourhoods.

In an interview, Baird noted the hope for the proposed protocol was to give people a chance to settle in once place without feeling under constant pressure to relocate.

Then they are able to settle and focus a bit on the plan with their (outreach) worker to try to get them into some type of housing ... because it takes at least one piece of worry away."

Also Wednesday, councillors debated, but approved on a split vote, direction to staff to study the feasibility of creating a voluntary registry" for Hamilton residents to host people who are homeless.

In search of a sustainable solution, the city awaits word from the province on a $5-million-a-year supportive-housing pitch for about 100 people with complex mental-health and addiction challenges.

The Ministry of Health didn't respond to The Spectator's query Thursday, but in February a spokesperson noted the proposal was being reviewed."

Since their original plan in 2021, the city and its housing partners have revised the plan to roughly 200 people with an estimated $8.9 million operating cost.

When we look at the need, it's possible that it's more than 200 units as we continue to serve the people that are in our community," Angie Burden, general manager of healthy and safe communities, told The Spectator.

The city has drafted a multimillion-dollar strategy to end chronic homelessness and a housing road map" that's to take a multipronged approach to bolstering affordability via a co-ordinating secretariat.

But in the meantime, due to spiking demand and insufficient provincial funding, Hamilton's homeless-serving sector is in crisis, Burden said. Our system is on the verge of collapse."

Teviah Moro is a reporter at The Spectator. tmoro@thespec.com