Listen to CKMS News – 2023-07-01 – Engage Barrie discusses Barrie City Council’s repressive agenda targeting homeless people:
By M.P. Holmes
The Barrie city Council tried to push anti-homeless legislation through at a meeting this week but backed down due to the strong country-wide backlash. The by-law would have prohibited both encampments and anyone from sharing food, water, tents or any other survival items with people experiencing homelessness on city property. I talked to Rob Romanek of EngageBarrie and he explained the basic situation.
In the end, and amid an outpouring of criticism from across the country, and once a local outreach centre agreed to stop handing out food and supplies along Barrie’s waterfront, and instead move their outreach to private property as suggested by city government, the local government withdrew the amendments, commenting that the bylaw amendments were “no longer necessary”. The mayor said the council sent the bylaw amendment back to city staff to amend wording that did not represent the council’s point of view.
If the bylaw had passed Council, it would have been challenged legally, surely citing the Superior court case of The Regional Municipality of Waterloo v. Persons Unknown and to be Ascertained, 2023 from earlier this year, in which the Superior Court rejected The Region of Waterloo’s plan to evict individuals encamped on Region-owned property (at Victoria and Weber). The Region argued that the people encamped were in breach of a local By-Law and the Charter of Rights did not apply in this case, but the Judge disagreed, finding that forcing homeless people to leave an encampment when there aren’t enough shelter spaces violates their rights to life, liberty and security of the person – all of which are protected in Section 7 of the Charter.
You can find more information about Engage Barrie on social media @engagebarrie, or on their website engagebarrie.org
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