Kingston Ont. mayor says province needs to help fight homelessness
Global News
Kingston's mayor is weighing in on a recent Ontario court ruling that calls 'homeless camp' evictions unconstitutional.
The mayor of Kingston, Ont., is weighing in on a recent Ontario court ruling that calls “homeless camp” evictions unconstitutional.
Bryan Paterson suggests Kingston’s experience compared with the situation that led to the court ruling in southwestern Ontario is different.
In Kitchener, a provincial judge denied the municipality’s request to remove roughly 50 unhoused people from an encampment on a vacant municipally owned parking lot saying it violates the Charter of Rights.
For dozens of people living rough in Kingston – at an encampment along the K&P Trail and Belle Park – an eviction deadline is looming.
Campers have until March 21 before they will have to pick up their belongings and leave.
However, the Kitchener ruling has added a wrinkle to that timeline.
“Here, the encampment is – it’s in public park space and along K&P Trail, so, certainly there is an argument that its space that should be available for other residents,” Paterson said.
The ruling in Kitchener-Waterloo came after two judges ruled against residents fighting to prevent encampment evictions at city parks in Toronto and Hamilton.