Ontario plans for tougher encampment rules stir emotional debate, including among Thunder Bay shelter users
'Where are we supposed to be?' asks Bunny Chief, who's been homeless for 2 years
Although she's had no permanent home for two years, Bunny Chief says she often gives up her space at the overnight shelter so others have a warm place to sleep.
"I try to make room for everybody else because I do have a little heater in my tent," she said.
But as temperatures continue to drop in Thunder Bay, Ont., she has no concrete plans for the coming months.
"I've never had to go through anything like this before. It is really stressful."
Since Premier Doug Ford announced he's introducing legislation that would allow municipalities to dismantle encampments — and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms' notwithstanding clause could be used if courts don't allow it — there's been a mix of support and pushback from across the province.
Thunder Bay, for instance, believes in a different approach — one more in line with the needs of individuals like Chief, who often have nowhere to turn to get housing and other help.
The northwestern Ontario city provides funding to outreach workers who check in on people in encampments, giving them food, water and other supplies while handing out applications for long-term housing.
"I do believe that we have a very effective system going," said Mayor Ken Boshcoff.
According to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) — which this summer asked the province for guidance on how to handle them, and more help to house and support people — there were at least 1,400 homeless encampments last year.
Ford promises more funding for shelter space
Ford's planned legislation is in response to a letter from a dozen mayors asking for tougher laws on encampments and public drug use. Boshcoff was not among the 12.
In London, however, Mayor Josh Morgan applauded Ford's plans, telling CBC: "When we see the details, we'll be able to understand it a lot better, so I would suggest people be very open to this, not jump to a bunch of conclusions.
"If we can solve all these things, we're finally on the right track of trying to give people the care they need, but also create the public safety ... that people have been looking for for some time."
Some municipal councillors in the province also disagree with lawmakers using the notwithstanding clause — Sec. 33 of the Charter — to override court decisions.
Chief said she's been on a wait-list to get into housing for two years. She's among at least 550 people experiencing homelessness in the city, according to a recent 24-hour count of the unhoused population.
I can understand everyone's frustration with this and we all hope that some of these things just go away, but we have to deal with them face on.- Ken Boshcoff, Thunder Bay mayor
Funding for 40 additional emergency shelter spaces was provided this winter by the Thunder Bay District Social Services Administration Board (TBDSSAB).
But Chief said the spots fill up fast.
Ford has promised more accountability for shelter service managers and increased funding for added shelter space.
Boshcoff said they can't come soon enough. However, he said getting rid of the encampments doesn't eliminate the problem.
"I can understand everyone's frustration with this and we all hope that some of these things just go away, but we have to deal with them face on," Boshcoff said. "Additional tools, supports from the federal and provincial governments will help us do that."
'Nobody will rent to us,' says shelter user
During the day, Chief goes to People Advocating for Change Through Empowerment (PACE), which operates a drop-in centre on the city's south side.
But she fears dismantling encampments will leave people with fewer places to go when shelter spaces are full and other services are closed.
"There would be more people freezing, more people sleeping in doorways, and they don't want that," she said.
"Where are we supposed to be? Nobody will rent to us because we are low income and we're looked down upon — we're frowned upon everywhere. Nobody wants us around."
Jonathan Ford, who has been without a home for two years, alternates between overnight shelters and a tent. A PACE volunteer during the day, he's concerned about encampments being banned.
"It's gonna cause a lot of problems with businesses and stuff like that because people are going to want to sleep somewhere out of the wind, in the wintertime especially," he said.
"Shelter space right now is very limited. There's a lot of people going to shelters and tent city [has] been cold."
A spokesperson for the City of Thunder Bay told CBC News in an email Friday that staff will take time to review the premier's proposed legislative changes "before making adjustments, based on the future deliberations and decisions of council, to the City's Human-Rights Based Community Action Plan."
Council recently voted against a proposed location for a temporary shelter village for people experiencing homelessness, but city staff are looking into alternative locations.
Fears more people will be put in 'higher-risk situations'
Holly Gauvin is executive director of Elevate NWO, a harm reduction agency that leads outreach efforts in Thunder Bay's encampments.
When asked her thoughts about Ford's proposed legislation, she answered: "Good luck."
"We're going to find people who are seeking shelter in people's sheds, garages, unlocked spaces, doorways. This is what's going to happen. It drives it underground. It doesn't change it," Gauvin said.
"We'll find more people in higher-risk situations than they're already in. The answer is not more shelters. The answer is housing."
She praised shelter operators in the city that work with "shoestring budgets," but wants to see more funding for long-term solutions.
It's also important for people to know the reasons some people don't use shelters, Gauvin added — such as not being allowed to bring pets or share a room with their partners.
If Ford's strategy is to divert people from encampments and into shelters, "it's not understanding all of the issues that actually land people in encampments — and once again has been done without community consultation, which is very problematic of this government," Gauvin said.
The Ontario government says it's spending more than $1.8 billion to help build at least 1.5 million homes by 2031.
Closing safe consumption sites 'catastrophic'
As for Ford's promise to crack down on public drug use, people like Katie Bortolin say that'll be hard to accomplish once Ontario shuts down 10 supervised consumption sites, including Path 525 in Thunder Bay.
"Closing these sites is catastrophic and will result in vulnerable people using in unsafe environments, increasing the risk of overdose, infection, increase in HIV and Hep C, higher health-care costs, and tragically, more lives lost," Bortolin, a board member of the DEK Foundation, said in an email to CBC News.
DEK was named after Carolyn Karle's daughter, Dayna Elizabeth Karle, who died of a drug overdose in September 2021.
Thunder Bay continues to have one of the highest opioid-related death rates in the province, at a rate of 59.6 per 100,000 population in the first half of 2024.
Many advocates argue removing encampments and supervised consumption sites means taking away safe spaces for the community's most vulnerable.
"Dismantling encampments without a safe place to go is not a solution. Continually equating homelessness, substance misuse and criminality shows the misinformed agenda pushing this legislation forward," said Bortolin.
Despite the uncertainty of her future, Chief said she focuses on helping her peers at PACE and in the encampments.
"I hope that all of us can find a place that we can call home," she said. "There has to be something done."
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