London homeless agencies rip Queen’s Park encampment, drug use crackdown

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Ontario’s promised crackdown on encampments and public drug use doesn’t solve underlying problems, and serves to criminalize homelessness, London social-agency leaders say.

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Premier Doug Ford has announced $25.5-million in new funding to open up and expand shelter capacity for people living in encampments across the province, along with $50 million to fund “ready to build” affordable housing projects.

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On top of funding, the province is promising new and amended laws that could have drug users in public spaces fined up to $10,000 or sent to prison for six months, and adding repeated trespassing in businesses, offices and parks as an aggravating factor during sentencing.

“Mayors and residents from communities across Ontario have been clear that enough is enough when it comes to encampments and illegal drug use in our parks and public spaces,” Ford said in a statement.

In the fall, Ford dared Ontario mayors to request the province invoke the notwithstanding clause in order to clear encampments. Spurred by Ford’s comments, 13 mayors, including Windsor’s Drew Dilkens, Chatham-Kent’s Darrin Canniff, and Brantford’s Kevin Davis did exactly that.

Cities can’t simply remove encampments, because a court decision from Waterloo Region bars it unless cities have enough shelter space to accommodate encampment residents. Doing so would violate Section 7 of the Charter, protecting life, liberty and security of the person, the court ruling said.

Last week, London Mayor Josh Morgan applauded the drug-use crackdown and more shelter funding, and particularly the province not choosing to pre-emptively use the notwithstanding clause. But Ford has said they will use it if courts “interfere” with the province’s actions.

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Morgan reaffirmed his support in the government’s news release, saying that the new money and regulations are “an important step” in addressing health, homelessness and public safety.

“By investing in pathways to stable housing and expanding the supports available to those in need, we can ensure people receive the care they require while respecting the use of public spaces for everyone, which includes new tools to restrict the prevalence of open drug use,” he said.

That characterization is at odds with some of London’s service providers, who call the housing funding “laughable” and “garbage.”

Chuck Lazenby is executive director of the Unity Project, an agency that provides shelter and programs to the homeless, and co-coordinator of the London’s homeless hubs implementation group. She says for the entire province, the new funding isn’t nearly enough.

“It’s laughable. It’s an insult, is what it is, because it doesn’t give us the resources to actually get people indoors,” she said, adding that the funding for affordable housing won’t come close to addressing wait-lists of several years in many cities, London included.

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Lazenby also said she would welcome any investment into more addictions treatment in the community, but that not enough has been invested to put a dent in the problem. The province announced earlier this year that they would spend $378 million for 19 homelessness and addiction treatment hubs, which have yet to be unveiled.

Ark Aid Street Mission is one of London’s shelter providers, and executive director Sarah Campbell agrees the funding is not enough. She said that money not only has to cover physical spaces, if they’re even available, but also to support outreach at encampments, and proper data reporting that the province would now require.

“It doesn’t make any sense. I think citizens are going to be sorely disappointed that they’re not going to see the results they’re hoping for,” she said.

Campbell calls the new trespassing penalties “entrapment,” saying those sleeping rough in parks and on the streets will automatically be arrested several times, because there are no open shelter spaces for them.

Fining drug users up to $10,000 is “absolutely garbage,” she added, explaining that many end up on the street because of drug addiction, or self-medicate to cope with being homeless.

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The new legislation won’t be passed until the new year, as Queen’s Park politicians have risen for their winter break. It’s unclear when funding will roll out as a result.

“The actual effect of this kind of a conversation right now simply obfuscates the issue at hand, which is our governments are not taking an active role in ensuring adequate housing and shelter this winter while people die,” Campbell said.

London has no dedicated homeless winter response this year, after consistently adding new shelter beds to protect homeless residents from cold weather.

Instead, the city is relying on maintaining 90 beds from last year’s winter response, leaving London’s shelter bed count at 396.

jmoulton@postmedia.com

@JackAtLFPress

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