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The encampment residents in municipalities in Ontario have obtained legal assistance and fought against their local municipal politicians on council and won a battle from being evicted.
A Superior Court justice has dismissed an application to evict encampment residents because doing so would violate their charter rights. It is very clear and evident that local municipal governments and politicians lack concerns of homeless residents.
If municipal politicians actually cared and were as committed to finding safe, supportive housing for people experiencing homelessness, then why do the politicians on municipal councils in Ontario go to court to seek orders to clear out and kick out the homeless people in the encampments with no housing or shelter to go to?
And why do local municipal governments and politicians try to prevent certain types of housing by enacting such bylaws in various municipalities in Ontario?
The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) has expressed concerns that certain bylaws enacted by various municipal councils in Ontario have created barriers to building and establishing and accessing housing, supportive housing, and emergency and transitional housing shelters which may be discriminatory under the Human Rights Code.
The OHRC states that the legal obligations for municipalities under the Code are supported by provincial planning law, as well as federal and international law in regards to housing.
Based on the human rights obligations outlined by the OHRC, it has called on various municipal councils in Ontario to remove any barriers that have a discriminatory effect as soon as possible, and to allow such housing projects to proceed as soon as possible.
Reports have included comments where community members in some municipalities have shared their fears that certain projects in regards to housing, may result in increased crime, lowered property values, and a possible threat to child safety.
These comments represent discriminatory attitudes towards their neighbours and fellow community members experiencing homelessness and mental health and addiction disabilities, the OHRC stated.
These fears are not a legal basis upon which municipalities can make zoning or planning decisions, according to the OHRC.
The OHRC expressed concerns in letters to some municipalities that certain bylaws delaying or denying approval of certain types of housing projects may create barriers to establishing desperately needed housing, emergency and transitional housing, and may also be discriminatory under the Ontario Human Rights Code.
Politicians at all levels of government need to do as much as possible to help us with housing security.
We need municipal governments and politicians to stop arguing these cases in courts and recognize that displacing residents from encampments is harmful and a waste of municipal resources, and we need to focus on how to find people housing and remove any bylaws that are causing barriers to housing.
Doug Abernethy
Gravenhurst
