Advocates ‘very sad’ by lack of help for homeless encampment residents in Ontario city

If not here, then where? The question people in Barrie, Ont. are asking in when it comes to a homeless encampment set up in a city park.

If not here, then where? The question frequently arises when it comes to homeless encampments and seems not to have an easy answer while the country deals with the housing crisis.

On Monday, residents of an encampment at Milligan’s Park in Barrie, Ont., were issued a bylaw violation notice for camping in a public park without authority and placing debris on city property.

The roughly 13 people in the encampment were given 24 hours to pack up and move.

However, with no other options and having already moved the site previously, those in the encampment found themselves looking into their legal options.

That is when Christine Nayler, co-founder and director of Ryan’s Hope, an organization that advocates and provides support for people with substance use issues and experiencing homelessness, called York Region Community Legal Clinic.

“It’s very, very sad, and it’s just misinformed, and it’s not helpful. Where does the city want them to go?” Nayler asks.

Jeff Schlemmer, executive director of the legal clinic, says several cases involving encampments in the last few years have “clarified the rules,” adding that municipalities cannot remove people without providing them with adequate options.

“The case law is consistent; there are cases in Kingston and Waterloo in the last couple of years where the court has refused to grant an injunction to the municipality to allow them to evict encampment residents, and there was one in Toronto and one in Hamilton where they were allowed to evict because they found that there were adequate, accessible alternative accommodations.”