Homelessness in Kingston, Ontario – timeline of actions

Timeline

September 13, 2024 – Kingston Community Legal Clinic calls mayor’s statement “premature and misguided”

There isn’t going to be a quick, easy solution for the fact of homelessness, drug addictions in Kingston

So I would ask the mayor to do what he’s trained to do, which is to simply pause until we have more information.

John Done, KCLC Executive Director

September 13, 2024 – Kingstonist finds Mayor Bryan Paterson’s statement calling for the closure of the ICH and CTS came before the the suspect was apprehended and before the names or residence of the victims or accused were disclosed by the Kingston Police

In addition, police confirmed that the accused man lived in close proximity to the ICH, but not in the encampment.

September 13, 2024 – Mayor Bryan Paterson calls for immediate closure of safe injection site and Integrated Care Hub after the attack

Kingston Police and Frontenac Paramedics responded to a serious incident at the encampment around the safe injection site / Consumption Treatment Services (CTS) and Integrated Care Hub (ICH) at 661 Montreal Street, following reports of an individual with an edged weapon. Kingston Police are reporting there are two fatalities, with a third person transported to hospital with life threatening injuries. Police are currently involved in an active standoff situation with the suspect contained in the area. They are working diligently to peacefully resolve the situation and arrest the male suspect. Public safety is the number one priority.

I am absolutely horrified by the situation unfolding – this is an utterly senseless act of violence. I am in contact with our Chief of Police, as the safety and wellbeing of our community is our top priority. It’s clear the safe injection site and the ICH need to close immediately. It is no longer safe for people to use the CTS and we need to respond. We as a city have been talking about the dangers of this encampment in and around the safe injection site for almost three years. There are community partners and advocates who have fought the city on every attempt we’ve made to clear this encampment and ensure public safety for those living there. I will not stand by and wait until more people die – enough is enough. We need to clear the encampment, close this safe injection site and the ICH until we can find a better way to support our most vulnerable residents and work with the province to provide treatment and housing solutions. I will have more to say on this as we know more about this on-going situation.

Mayor Bryan Paterson

[Mayor Bryan Paterson’s statement] led to many asking if anyone had confirmed that those involved are clients of the ICH and/or living at the encampment – information that had not yet been disclosed by police.

Kingstonist

Responses on Facebook ask for solutions before reactionary decisions are made

September 12, 2024 – Suspect arrested

September 12, 2024 – 2 dead, 1 injured in attack at Kingston encampment

Two people are dead and a third critically injured after an attack near a safe consumption site and encampment in Kingston, Ont., on Thursday morning.

July 9, 2024 – Council votes to transfer Sleeping Cabin program to Crossroads United Church, Our Livable Solutions (OLS)

That Council direct staff to continue to wind down the Sleeping Cabin program as previously directed by Council with an anticipated program end date of September 30, 2024, and to additionally work with Our Livable Solutions to advance their Crossroads Village proposal to accommodate any remaining tenants; and

That Council support the application of the emergency use provisions within the Kingston Zoning By-Law for a period of up to three years to
enable the establishment of a sleeping cabin program at Crossroads United Church; and

That staff be directed to work with Our Livable Solutions (OLS) to develop terms and conditions for the sale of the 17 sleeping cabins to OLS for $1; it being understood that should OLS’s Crossroads Village proposal plan not be completed within a period of 24 months, the terms and conditions would stipulate that OLS return the 17 cabins back to the City; and

That staff be directed to relocate the 17 sleeping cabins to Crossroads United Church once the lease agreement between Our Livable Solutions and Crossroads United Church is established; and That Council approve up to $150,000, funded from the Homelessness and
Housing Reserve, to support Planning Act application preparation and associated legal fees to finalize the Crossroads United Church Land
Lease for the use of the property at 690 Sir John A. Macdonald Boulevard; and

That Council approve up to $350,000, to be funded from the Homelessness and Housing Reserve, to support capital development
expenses such as the common amenities building, accessible sidewalks and ramps, land servicing, the purchase of an additional cabin and
necessary retrofits or repairs to the existing cabins, excluding any cosmetic improvements to the existing cabins; and

That Council direct staff to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with Our Livable Solutions to include tracking of progress and reporting out of tenants’ outcomes.

May 1, 2024 – Open letter to council from the Ontario Human Rights Commission warns that their approach could violate the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

May 1, 2024

Mayor Bryan Paterson
City Councillors

City of Kingston
216 Ontario Street
Kingston, Ontario K7L 223

Dear Mayor Paterson and Councillors:

The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) understands that the City of Kingston has announced plans to require unsheltered homeless persons at Belle Park to dismantle their shelters and pack up their belongings during the day. I am writing to urge Kingston instead to adopt a human rights-based approach to respond to the issue of encampments.

The growing reality of encampments and unsheltered homelessness raises issues of public importance squarely within the OHRC’s expertise. The OHRC has been monitoring Ontario municipalities’ response to the crisis of unsheltered homelessness.

The OHRC recognizes the challenges municipalities face in addressing intersecting needs related to housing and homelessness, mental health and substance use issues, and poverty. All levels of government share responsibility, but municipalities are often on the front lines of addressing these systemic social problems.

There are almost 1400 encampments across the province and that municipalities are not adopting a consistent response to this growing concern. Some municipalities are seeking to implement a respectful and compassionate human rights-based approach. Others have emphasized enforcement which can involve municipal officials or police removing people, seizing, or disposing of possessions.

Some municipalities, including Kingston have applied to the courts for orders allowing them to enforce by-laws prohibiting encamping. Notably when municipalities have done so, courts have found that if there are not enough accessible shelter beds, the state cannot prevent homeless people from building their own shelter on public land without violating their Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Charter) right to life, liberty and security of the person. Courts have said that shelters are not truly accessible if they cannot accommodate couples, provide necessary services, accommodate mental and physical disability, or if they impose rules that cannot be followed due to addiction disabilities.

The OHRC is concerned that enforcing the daytime ban on camping could lead to breaches of the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Charter. Substantive equality means that municipalities must ensure their actions do not create or exacerbate disadvantage based on one or more prohibited grounds.

Demonstrating insufficient daytime shelter spaces is not the only way to establish discrimination. Adverse effects based on disability and sex, among other grounds, can result from having to take down shelters, pack up and store belongings or carry them around and then re-establish adequate shelter from the elements every night. Encampment residents, most of whom have physical, mental health and substance use disabilities, may suffer extreme hardship and increased risk of physical and Psychological harm. If they cannot comply, they may be subjected to Trespass to Property Act notices, fines, and arrests.

Notably, enforcing the daytime ban may also make it very difficult for people to live in the encampment at all, effectively, resulting in forced evictions. Displacing persons to living conditions where they are more exposed to the elements or at increased risk because they cannot access healthcare, social and harm reduction services raises human rights concerns. Women and gender diverse persons experience challenges finding accessible and safe spaces and face heightened risks of gender-based harassment and violence if displaced from chosen communities where they feel safest.

Municipalities need to take extra measures to ensure that their response to homelessness reflects their duty to respect, protect and fulfil Indigenous peoples distinct rights and a commitment to reconciliation. Indigenous peoples have rights under treaties, the Constitution and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). All encampments in Ontario are located on Indigenous
peoples traditional territories, engaging their distinct rights concerning land and self-determination. Also, Indigenous peoples are overrepresented among homeless people and more likely to be part of outdoor or unsheltered populations. Indigenous encampment residents and local Indigenous organizations, including those serving encampment residents or other unhoused residents in Kingston, must be meaningfully engaged in any measures regarding encampments. Actions that result in the forcible displacement of Indigenous persons in the absence of their free, prior, and informed consent violate UNDRIP.

In managing municipal parks and enforcing by-laws, municipalities are providing a service to the public. This public includes the unsheltered homeless population, as recognized in the Kingston decision. Any health and safety issues with encampments should be based on objective evidence, and not stereotypes. Steps to address legitimate health and safety concerns should be humane and tailored so that any adverse impact affects the rights of encampment residents as minimal as possible.

The OHRC encourages all levels of government to work cooperatively with each other and affected stakeholders, including encampment residents, community agencies and Indigenous organizations, to determine how best to fulfill the urgent need for housing and shelter services while addressing legitimate health and safety concerns. This, approach will help governments meet their legal obligations.

The OHRC’s Human Rights Based Approach Framework (HRBA Framework) helps those designing policies and programs meet these standards. Further guidance on how a human rights-based approach applies in the context of encampments has been provided by the Federal Housing Advocate and the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing. The federal government has recently released Canada’s Housing Plan and announced funds to support human rights-based community action plans that commit to a housing-first approach to ending encampments, and include supportive and transitional housing, housing-focused services, and rent supplements specifically dedicated to individuals living in encampments or experiencing homelessness.

The OHRC understands that Kingston and municipalities across the province want all their residents to have affordable, accessible, and dignified housing. However, requiring encampment residents to remove their shelter and belongings during the day exacerbates their marginalization and makes it more difficult to achieve this essential goal. Thus, the OHRC joins many other concerned citizens and organizations in calling on Kingston to adopt a human rights-based approach which focuses on the needs of the encampment residents and supports them to permanently transition out of homelessness.

The OHRC hopes that this letter is useful as the City of Kingston takes a decision in this complex, difficult societal challenge. The OHRC welcomes the opportunity to discuss and provide more information about the HRBA Framework and how it can be applied to the needs of Kingston’s unsheltered homeless population.

Sincerely,

Patricia DeGuire
Chief Commissioner
Ontario Human Rights Commission

cc: President, Association of Municipalities of Ontario

April 2, 2024 – Bylaw enforcement officers serve bylaw violation notices to encampment residents

The city has given Kingston Police the authority to act on its behalf if you are found camping in the park when prohibited

No further warning will be given.

We know that this may be difficult for you

Mental health support are available on-site.

Notice

We’re not moving people away. They have the right to be in Belle Park, just like any of you have the right, or any of our citizens have the right

We’re not telling them they have to leave the park.

Based on the (Superior Court) decision, they’re simply not able to camp in the park during the daytime.

The city stands firm in what our legal advice has been from both our internal counsel and external counsel

We still believe we’re fully within our rights to apply the Parks Use Bylaw with the exception noted by Justice Carter.

Brad Joyce, Kingston commissioner of infrastructure, transportation and emergency services

March 14, 2024 – City of Kingston to begin enforcement of daytime sheltering prohibition in City Parks

The City of Kingston, with support from community partners, will begin applying the Parks Use By-Law (#2009-76) during the week of April 2. This work begins today in a respectful, safe and empathetic manner. For people who have been sheltering in parks, this means that tents and other temporary shelters must be removed one hour after sunrise and cannot be erected until one hour before sunset. 

Following a court decision in late 2023, City staff will be applying the Parks Use By-Law in all municipally owned parks. Further, staff have been implementing procedures for dismantling permanent and/or semi-permanent structures erected in City parks, enforcing fire bans in City parks and establishing other procedures intended to protect the security of the City’s parks and infrastructure, address life safety concerns and promote the safe use of City parks.

We acknowledge enforcement of the Parks Use By-Law is difficult for people who are currently sheltering in City parks,

The City and its agency partners are committed to applying the by-law and doing so in a manner that maintains the dignity of people who are affected by this change.

Brad Joyce, Commissioner, Infrastructure, Transportation and Emergency Services with the City of Kingston

November 27, 2023 – Kingston Community Legal Clinic (KCLC) called the ruling a win, but shared concerned about enforcement during the day

What was disappointing to us was that the court did not come out unequivocally and say if the City denies the homeless people the right to shelter at the Belle Park encampment during the day, that’s also unconstitutional.

John Done, KCLC Executive Director

November 24, 2023 – Ontario Superior Court of Justice denies request, rules that removal of the encampment would violate the rights of those living there under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms

November 7, 2023 – Council votes to wind down Sleeping Cabin pilot program

That staff be directed to work with Our Livable Solutions as the operators of the site on a wind down of the current Sleeping Cabin pilot program; and

That staff be directed to work with existing supportive and transitional housing providers in the Kingston area to prepare a plan for the residents who currently participate in the Sleeping Cabin program to transition to alternate housing solutions that meet their individual needs; and

That staff return to Council by end of March 2024, with the details of this transition plan, including required financial supports for service providers, associated transition timelines and potential alternative uses for the existing cabins.

June 29, 2023 – Kingston applies to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to remove the encampment

March 22, 2023 – Kingston serves encampment residents trespass notices with a move out deadline of March 27, 2023

January 10, 2023 – Council votes to remove the Belle Park encampment

Whereas the previous City Council on June 29th, 2022 directed City staff to gradually relocate people in the encampments in Belle Park/KP Trail and around the Integrated Care Hub at 661 Montreal Street; and

Whereas the City of Kingston provided people at the encampment A Notice of Trespass and No Trespass Order according to By-Law No. 2009-76 to move from the properties by Wednesday, January 11th 2023 at 5pm; and

Whereas the City has provided additional shelter spaces however, they may be inaccessible to people in the encampments due to needs around addiction and substance use that in conflict with rules and regulations at existent shelter options, and the relocation on January 11th may result in the disposal of possessions essential to survival during the winter;

Therefore Be It Resolved That Council approve a moratorium on this Order at the Integrated Care Hub and Belle Park/KP Trail until March 21st, 2023 at 5pm; and

That Council approve the rules previously endorsed for encampments in Exhibit E of Report 22-183; and

That Council approve an amount of up to $149,000 for the provision of toilets ($8,200), dumpsters ($10,400), (24/7 security services and maintenance ($110,000), by-law monitoring ($10,000), and the provision of measures to address cold exposure ($10,000) until March 21, 2023 to be funded from the Working Fund Reserve; and

That Council direct staff to undertake all necessary steps, including commencing any required Court applications, to ensure that the encampment is removed after the March 21, 2023 deadline; and

That Council direct staff to continue to work to with community partners and organizations to house and find alternative solutions permitting substance use for the encampment occupants.

YEAS: Councillor Amos, Councillor Chaves, Councillor Cinanni, Councillor Glenn, Councillor Hassan, Councillor Ridge, Councillor Stephen, Councillor Tozzo (8)
NAYS: Deputy Mayor Boehme, Councillor McLaren, Councillor Oosterhof, Councillor Osanic, Mayor Paterson (5)

October 19, 2021 – Council votes in favour of Sleeping Cabin pilot program, approves $150,000 in funding

That Council direct staff to invite community partners to propose a community led sleeping cabin program that ensures all the areas covered in Report Number 21-260 are addressed; and

That Council approve the investment of $150,000, to be funded from the Vuorinen Estate ‘to help the homeless’, to support the creation of a sleeping cabin program.

An initial investment of $407,000 from the city, followed by two other contributions of $250,000 and $394,000, according to a staff report tabled at council.

At the time, it was touted as an innovative solution for chronic homelessness.

The city further committed to provide $336,000 in operational funding each year, starting in 2023.

May 7, 2019 – Council sets increase housing affordability as strategic priority