Encampment in downtown Guelph cleared after eviction notices issued
'It's taking the problem, removing it so people can't see it,' housing advocate Chris Williams says
The encampment that has existed for months in downtown Guelph's St. George's Square was mostly cleared by Wednesday evening.
Two tents remained at 5 p.m. It was a daylong effort by city staff to remove empty tents while advocates and shelter staff helped people move to other locations or into shelter beds.
By Thursday morning, all the tents were gone.
Chris Williams who is part of the Guelph Tiny Homes Coalition said he arrived at the encampment Wednesday at 7 a.m. and soon after bylaw officials, police officers and city staff also arrived.
"I believe there's still some people who are not interested in voluntarily leaving. So we'll see. We're getting to that tension point here," he said mid-morning.
Shortly after, bylaw officials started to talk to people in the encampment and asked them to leave. As tents were removed from raised garden beds, other city staff planted small evergreen trees and snow fencing was put up around the gardens.
Williams said people who lived in the encampment seemed unclear about where they should go. The city had offered a map on its website of where people were permitted to set up a tent, but the map has not been operational for at least a week.
"It's a little awkward for people finding spots," he said. "There's a park down the street they offered."
WATCH | People living at downtown Guelph homeless encampment asked to move:
New bylaw prohibits downtown encampment
A new public space use bylaw came into effect in Guelph on Oct. 1, which prohibits tents and structures from being erected in specific areas, including St. George's Square.
Colleen Clack-Bush, deputy CAO of public services for the city, told CBC News at the time the city was not going to rush into the encampment and move people out.
"We want to make sure that we're rolling it out in a respectful way and also making sure that we are properly documenting everything that we're doing," Clack-Bush said in an interview.
Mayor Cam Guthrie has been vocal on social media about open drug use at the downtown encampment and in the city's parks. Back in September, police arrested a couple for having sex in public near Wyndham St. N. and Quebec St. in the early evening. A video of the incident was posted to social media.
Increase police downtown
Earlier this month, Guelph Police Service Chief Gordon Cobey announced the service was stepping up the number of officers who would be in the downtown core to address "open drug use," criminal behaviours and public safety concerns.
"We're responding to an ever increasing concern being expressed to us that our public is telling us they simply don't feel safe," Cobey told CBC Kitchener-Waterloo's The Morning Edition host Craig Norris.
Cobey said officers will be in place in the downtown core for "as long as it needs to be" and he said it's important for people in the city to understand "we are committed to their safety."
The service has taken a health-first approach in recent years, but the service says the downtown has seen a "disproportionate negative impact" of open illegal drug use compared to other neighbourhoods.
People left encampment voluntarily: City
On Wednesday, city staff removed empty tents and said it would go into storage for 30 days so people would have a chance to claim their items.
By 5 p.m., two tents remained on the site and the people who were living in them had been offered housing.
Doug Godfrey, general manager of the city's operations department, said in an email to CBC News that everyone was voluntarily complying with the notices to vacate the square.
"Our bylaw staff along with social service partners are actively assisting any individuals who remain there at this time and are dialoguing with any impacted individuals to ensure they are informed of available supports and where they could relocate to," Godfrey wrote.
"The city has committed to leading with a respectful, human-centred, and education-first approach relating to enforcement of the new bylaw."
Williams says while the encampment may be gone from the downtown core, it doesn't mean the people who were living there are now safely housed. For many people, it's moved them to an area that's further away from the services they need that are located downtown.
"It's taking the problem, removing it so people can't see it," he said.
"This is feeling a little insensitive, right? And I think there could be maybe a better way to do it. And I think we should be advocating for more housing."
He said there are options, such as the tiny home coalition, which has faced some hurdles in getting started.
"This is because of housing issues, right?" Williams said.
"It's not because people are trying to be in people's way. That's definitely not it."
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With files from Ieva Lucs