Lesley CromptonElliott WandLesley Crompton of Unsheltered Campaign and Elliott Wand of ACORN Waterloo Region spoke to Bob Jonkman about housing issues for the 2026 municipal election.
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All Regional Council candidates, including Mayoralty candidates in Waterloo Region were invited by e-mail, the candidate’s online contact form, or on social media. Some have declined to participate, others have not responded.
Bob Jonkman is joined by Dr. Erin Dej, Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminology at Wilfrid Laurier University, Dr. Laura Pin, Assistant Professor in the Political Science Department, also at Wilfrid Laurier University, and Lesley Crompton, who works with the Unsheltered Campaign at the Civic Hub in Waterloo Region. They discuss the impending eviction of the people at the Victoria/Weber encampment, direct aid, government responsibilities, housing policy, and the role of academia.
A community fridge facilitates access to high quality food. It is open 24 hour a day, 7 days a week and available to anyone who needs food at any time. Donations of fresh food or non-perishable items are welcomed.
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Dr. Erin Dej introduces herself, explains the role of critical criminology in social justice issues, and begins to explain the Point-In-Time count when technical difficulties arise.
Dr. Erin Dej explains that what is happening in Waterloo Region with homelessness is happening across the country, and across the world. The Point-In-Time count shows a doubling of homelessness since 2018. Part of that is due to Covid, but there are a variety of factors that contribute.
Dr. Laura Pin introduces herself, and explains how Political Science influence policy action around social issues and homelessness.
Lesley Crompton introduces herself, and the Unsheltered Campaign which has been filling gaps in social services for food, water, sanitary facilities, and shelter. Talking to people with lived experience, and gathering stories. Identifying the “hidden homeless”, people who are not registered with the municipality for the shelter system. Extended families are excluded, but may have some of the same issues. The Point-In-Time count had to be done by the municipality in order to get funding from other levels of government, but contracted the service out to the assistive organizations like Unsheltered Campaign. There are issues dealing with the macro issues because so much attention is focused on the micro issues.
17m43s
Direct aid provided by eg. Unsheltered Campaign, Going Mobile KW, 519 Community Collective provide food, food ingredients, and food preparation for people who have food insecurity. It is difficult to prepare a variety of meals from supplies from the food banks; it does not provide the recipients with the choice of what to eat. There is no confirmation of need, no means testing; treating people with dignity. Are people satisfied, well-nourished? It’s difficult to say. Is this Canada’s “Social Safety Net”? Aid agencies need a “Billing For Filling” initiative, billing the state for filling the gap. This goes back to social policy, social assistance for people who have disabilities or are unemployed; the rates are not enough for people to afford shelter and food. The single rate for Ontario Works (OW) is $750/month; the Ontario Disability Support Program is about $1150/month. These are not livable, humane rates.
24m30s
At the Waterloo Region Council Meeting on Tuesday, 7 June 2022, there was a call for additional funding from higher levels of government. Housing requires intergovernmental relations and multiple levels of government to manage. But at the regional level there are lots of things that can be done, eg. a regional encampment protocol. While there is a need for additional funding, it’s not an excuse for making use of the powers the regional government has for taking action. Beyond food, there are other issues that require support. Shelter support for families in motels are the same facilities used for people displaced from encampments, but this does not work for many people. Waterloo Region contracts out these services to aid agencies. Lesley Crompton says we need an Auditor General to ensure that there is more public accountability and transparency between the Region and its service providers to ensure they’re doing what we think they’re supposed to be doing — Lesley doesn’t think they are.
29m21s
There are upwards of 50 people living at the Victoria and Weber encampment. Regional Council seemed sympathetic, but not motivated to help. Premier Doug Ford has said that for people in this situation just need to get a job. But Dr. Dej says that lots of people in this situation have a job! They’re working, but it’s not enough to pay the rent. For those without work, it is difficult to get a job. How do people without a job get a bus pass to find work? How do they get equipment like steel-toed boots needed to get a job? How can people try to get a job when they’re in an encampment, likely sleep deprived from being in the same area with 50 other people, concerned for their safety, and unable to get good rest from sleeping on the ground. And even when people on social assistance do get work, their earnings are clawed back at %50, an effective tax rate much higher than anyone else has to pay. The provincial government is cutting its sources of revenue (license plate renewal), federal government isn’t pursuing foreign holdings tax which could be used to invest in affordable housing and social housing. Dr. Pin says that at the local government level, a vacant home tax or foreign ownership tax could raise revenues for social programs. People are working part-time, employers cutting hours to minimize benefits. But even people working full-time at minimum wage earn only about $2000/month before deductions, yet rents are around $1600/month. If we took an approach of housing as a human right it shouldn’t matter whether people work full-time, part-time, if they need child care, or if people have a disability and can’t work — people still have a right to decent and affordable housing. The Region of Waterloo’s housing policy has put forward a human rights approach to housing; the federal government in its national housing strategy has also put forth a human rights approach to housing. But how can we make this a lived experience for people experiencing homelessness? Yet the Region of Waterloo Council has not advanced this into a formal motion.
35m30s
International Human Rights declaration indicate that people are not to be evicted from their housing, or even encampments. What legal ramifications are there for municipalities that break the International Human Rights declaration? Dr. Dej says that federally this has already been adopted. Yet municipalities don’t follow it. Instead, municipalities are adopting a criminalizatin of homelessness, and even a militarization of the efforts to evict people from encampments. We do have a national protocol for homeless encampments in Canada to follow for removing people from encampments developed by the former UN Rapporteur on Housing, Lailani Farha and Dr. Kaitlin Schwan that tells municipalities how to do it within our international human rights obligations. Recognize that people don’t want to live in encampments, they want to be housed. The challenge is that following this protocol takes time, but people want quick fixes. Yet removing encampments is not that quick fix people are looking for, it’s not going to end homelessness.
38m06s
Lesley Crompton points out that people need more than just housing: They need wrap-around services such as cooking instruction, a social structure, mental health issues that need to be addressed. Some shelters have zero-tolerance for violence. But what is violence? Someone speaking exteremely loudly may be considered violent, and get evicted. At motels used for housing, the staff are not able to deal with mental health issues. People need on-going supports, but some municipal housing staff think that merely providing housing is enough. What can academics do to influence the outcome of the pending eviction? Dr. Pin recognizes her privilege; people from the region connect with her in ways that they don’t connect with people on the ground. The 30 June deadline for evicting people from the Victoria and Weber encampment is artificial, the site is not needed for construction until the fall. Dr. Pin suggests we push back against that deadline to give people more time to discuss with decision makers as to what they need. Dr. Dej suggests that we push as hard as we can to make sure that the voices of the people in the encampments are the ones that are heard. She has received criticism about the Point-In-Time counts and other academic pursuits, that money spent on academic studies would be better spent on housing directly. But there is a lot of power in that data, it can convince people in ways that people might be convinced otherwise. For example, Dr. Dej has researched, rigorous data that supports Lesley’s statements on the need for ongoing services. Use this as clout to amplify the voices of people on the ground.
43m33s
How does this get to the politicians who make the decisions? Dr. Pin has been inviting councillors and staff into the Unsheltered Campaign meetings to hear what community organizations have to say on the issue. Dr. Pin’s graduate seminar prepared a report on comparative encampment protocols from a human rights perspective to provide the Region with data on how difference cities have put forward protocols to manage encampments, and providing some analysis to determine which protocols are more consistent with a human rights approach. Building relationships and capacity at the Regional level to do that kind of analysis. What can ordinary citizens do? Lesley Crompton says to take time to understand, to talk to people at the encampments, to talk to people who have been working for the people at encampments. The Region’s capacity of outreach staff is very limited, and does not give enough time to spend with the individuals at the encampments. Get involved, so you can then speak to the Region. This is an election year, and while there are no Regional or City councillors on the same page as Premier Ford, it is time for a change. CARE (Coalition Against Removing Encampments) is a grassroots organization that looks at other social justice issues, a coalition of other organizations. Dr. Pin mentions the Social Development Centre and the Civic Hub WR for people who are interested in connecting in a immediate way. Challenge the stigma that’s presented to the people experiencing unsheltered homelessness, recognize that the people in encampments are our neighbours and community members.
49m23s
Bob thanks the guests, gives the credits for CKMS Community Connections, and introduces Dreamer by Rose Brokenshire.
Show Notes are in progress! Check this page later for updates!
Show Notes
In this episode we talk with Mike and April of “Struggles of the City: Kitchener Waterloo”. We discussed their backgrounds and what made them want to become involved with the less fortunate. Also, their work with “Struggles of the City” and how it came gained traction. We also talk about their involvement with Lot 42.
Mike Ingenue & April Desrochers from Struggles of the City: Kitchener-Waterloo
UPDATE: The encampment at Victoria and Weber has been dismantled. The residents did not find a suitable arrangement that could house all of them.
This half hour examines the Waterloo Region Council meeting on August 11 where housing advocates commented on the Region’s new men’s shelter plan and presented some of the homeless and unsheltered communities’ biggest challenges. Then we speak with Lesley Crompton, a local anti-homelessness advocate for a more in-depth analysis of the issues raised at the meeting.
At the recent Waterloo Regional Council meeting, Council approved two dorm-style shelters with 24-hour access and supports in an unusually long meeting during which Region staff presented the Emergency Shelter Planning Update followed by short presentations by five housing advocates.
Each speaker advocated for specific areas of need in the unsheltered communities and the shelter system. This included
*stressing the need for more transition housing and more permanent affordable housing; decriminalizing homelessness;
*considering a human rights approach to obtaining zero homelessness;
*lowering specific barriers and reforming shelters generally in partnership with a variety of communities, including the homeless themselves; and
*providing basic amenities, such as water and sanitation for encampments and more Lot42-style housing communities.
Each delegate agreed that more spaces need to be made available and more work needs to be done to get people into permanent housing.
In the first hour Jenniefer Stronge speaks with various residents at a Waterloo Region encampment for unsheltered residents. Follow the Unsheltered Campaign at the Civic Hub WR.
In the second hour Jenniefer has a phone call with Karen Nelson to talk about animal abuse at slaughterhouses and during the transportation of animals, and talk about the death of Regan Russell, who was killed by a truck driver at an animal vigil.
This episode begins with a chat with Jeff Willmer who gives us an update on the “A Better Tent City” project at Lot42 in Kitchener.
The second half of the show is a story about a recent eviction from an emergency shelter. In the last week of July, during which the province of Ontario continued an emergency order due to the COVID-19 crisis, Monica Place in Cambridge gave a young single mother, Emma, and her one-year-old child 48 hours notice to move off their premises with little explanation. The unusual move was precipitated by a post on a local Facebook group page, in which a woman asserted that Emma left her child in 35-degree heat while she was smoking. Emma maintains the child was not in danger, she was not acting in anyway illegally or neglectfully. When contacted, Monica House confirmed the eviction but would not comment further.
— This program is a part of the “Local Journalism Initiative” grant program and is funded by the Community Radio Fund of Canada, the Government of Canada, and the CKMS Newsroom.
Regan Sunshine Brussé On Saturday, 1 August 2020 Jenniefer Stronge spoke again with Regan Sunshine Brussé of the Unsheltered Campaign. Regan provided updates on water availability: at one encampment a tap with fresh water has been provided, but at another encampment people are drinking from the river. A portable toilet has been provided by the Region of Waterloo at one location. Regan estimates there are still about 500 people who are unhoused, and winter is approaching. There has been very little progress since the start of pandemic measures in March. She says there are conversations about providing more affordable housing in the area. Regan would like to see the Region or a municipality provide an area of public land for an encampment with better facilities, so that people can be sheltered and maintain their social circles. People cannot be forced into shelter; facilitators need to speak with unsheltered people to find out what they want. There is a lack of trust in the system, and so some people may prefer to remain unsheltered. Today, people need to hide when they’re unsheltered because of opposition to the encampments. If we give unsheltered people a place to be it’s the first step to welcoming them back into society. Covid has shown us what we can do, and how quickly we can do it.
Conversation with Martin Asling, Waterloo Region Yes in My Backyard, as well as Lesley Crompton, Social Development Centre Waterloo Region/Civic Hub. Joining conversation also, is Unsheltered resident, Terry Kaan, T.K.
Grassroot movement, anti poverty work & building better futures for KW residents, & people experiencing homelessness.
On Today’ s show we feature a report back from the April 15th 2020 community organizing meeting in Kitchener to address the Coronavirus pandemic in respect to the homeless population, and implement immediate measures to mitigate the impacts. The meeting was held at the LOT 42 events and conference campus, and among other things, concluded with the announcement of the establishment of a tent city on the LOT 42 property.
We then speak with Nadine Green, Heather Majaury, and Ron Doyle, about the Lot lot 42 site which will be used to house people, as well as run programs that help poor people. The site includes a tent city in the court yard as well as a building with washrooms sports facilities a movie room and common area.
Nadine Green was a downtown store owner who used her store as a place to house homeless people as well as provide them with employment until the city and other forces forced her to shut down. As a result of this resistance was built and Heather Majaury came on board as an indigenous activist who found common cause with Nadine in terms of the plight of homeless people. This collaboration touched the heart of Landlord Ron Doyle who donated his property, lot 42 for Nadine, Heather and other like minded activists to use to solve the housing crisis.
Ron Doyle did this unprecedented move of donating his land as a result of the fact that the city is not doing enough around the, housing crisis and with the outbreak of Covid 19 homeless people more then ever need a place to go and if the city will not provide this space Ron took it upon himself to provide the space.
This program is a part of the “Local Journalism Initiative” grant program and is funded by the Community Radio Fund of Canada, the Government of Canada, and the CKMS Newsroom.
Regan Sunshine Brussé
Regan Sunshine Brussé is an anti-poverty activist working with Alliance Against Poverty, and is now working to find shelter for those left unsheltered during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You are free to use this material, as long as you provide credit and a link back to this page.
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You can donate to the Unsheltered Campaign funds at the CanadaHelps portal
I, The Mountain
J.P. Mortier