Windsor council asked to follow Halifax's lead and support temporary tent encampments

An advocate who spoke out at a recent Windsor city council meeting says if you evict people from encampments, it won't fix anything if they have no place to go.

"I think it's just false hope, magical thinking, that you can wipe out encampments and that homelessness will disappear. It's not going to happen," Marion Overholt, former executive director of Community Legal Aid, told council.

Overholt says the city should be asking upper levels of government for more money to prevent homelessness because even if the province gives the city power to break up encampments, there's no place for the people to move to. 

Council debated asking the provincial government for more money during a recent meeting but decided instead to ask administration to prepare a report on the issue for them to consider early next year.

Mayors across Ontario, including Windsor's, have asked Premier Doug Ford to act against a court ruling and allow cities to evict people living in homeless encampments.

An Ontario Superior Court justice ruled last year that a city cannot create new laws to evict people from living in tents on city land if there's not enough emergency shelter spaces for them in the municipality. 

Instead of tearing down encampments, and in addition to asking the province for more funding, Overholt wants the city to explore supplying encampments with supplies and materials on designated sites, similar to what's happening in Halifax. 

City housing 40 to 45 people each month

Overholt's comments came as council was asked to support a policy update from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) calling for long-term solutions to homelessness from the province.

That update includes a request for more money from the province for affordable and supportive housing, more money for people living in poverty and expanded access to evidence-based mental health and addictions treatment.

Coun. Kieran McKenzie, who asked council to support the policy update, called council's decision to get staff to return with a report on the issue a "massive waste of time."

Earlier in the meeting, city staff told council that the number of people who are homeless and on a prioritized list for stable housing is now at 902, double what it was in 2018, even as staff house between 40 and 45 people a month who are on the list. 

City staff say those 902 names are households, which means the actual number of people without stable housing is actually much higher. 

Andrew Daher, the city's commissioner of human and health services, said the high cost of living is the major factor in people becoming homeless.

He added that "there is no doubt that we are in a mental health and addictions crisis" in Windsor and across Canada, complicating people's ability to obtain stable housing, and added that the toxic drug supply is creating health problems further complicating people's ability to stay housed. 

Daher gave council a rough breakdown of the city's annual budget to manage homelessness:

• $20 million from the provincial government.
• $3 million from the federal government.
• $2.5 million from the city.

Council is using the federal money to add temporary emergency shelter spaces during the winter months, including extending hours at the Homelessness and Housing Help Hub to let people stay inside overnight. 

"We're trying to find solutions whether they be temporary or longer-term solutions to address these needs," said Daher.

More people sleeping outside than there are shelter beds

A staff report says the number of people who say they sleep outside often (282) is more than both the number of emergency shelter beds in the city (187).

The additional spaces for winter would still not be enough for every person to have their own bed, which staff said is part of the balancing act.

"If we added 282 beds, we would find we would have a lot of empty spaces," said Jennifer Tanner, Windsor's manager of homelessness and housing. 

"Because folks may bunk up with someone else on a really cold night or tap into other natural supports that they have."

The city says that the number of encampments is growing, with as many as 11 counted in the city at one time. 

Overholt said that evicting people from these encampments won't mean they find housing. 

"I think it's really clear that if you break up an encampment, people have nowhere to go.You don't have the capacity in your shelters and so people will find new places to stay. Maybe it's another encampment, maybe it's a doorway of a downtown business," she said.

Council is asked to change approach to encampments

Overholt said that the city should also be approaching encampments the way the City of Halifax does, which includes:

• Designated, temporary sites that allow people to live in a tent on public property.
• Access to bathrooms, drinking water and lockable storage spaces.
• Code of conduct guidelines for people staying at encampments. 

She said that approach needs to be combined with efforts to increase supportive and affordable housing.

"I think it's a question of balancing the rights of all citizens," said Overholt. 

Max Chauvin, Halifax's director of housing and homelessness, said the city's approach started a couple of years ago.

"Staying in tents is bad for everybody. It's bad for the people who have to live in them... and they're also bad for the surrounding community," he said. 

Chauvin said the city's approach to encampments was born out of necessity because without access to housing there's nowhere else for people to go. 

"If they're going to end up there anyway, if that's truly the only option, then let's create spaces where they know that they're allowed to be."

He said the city was at one point adding 10 new households a week to their prioritized housing list. 

Chauvin said the community is focused on encampments in Halifax because it's a visual reminder of the growing crisis. 

Inside the tents, he hears from people who are facing the same problem as people without a house in Windsor

"The fastest-growing number that we hear when we talk (about) people in encampments is people who simply can't afford a place to live," he said. 

The approach has faced criticism from Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston who called the city's decision to designate sites for homeless encampments "completely nuts."

Halifax Mayor Andy Fillmore tried to get council to scrap the list of allowed sites last week, but his push was defeated by council.

Business owners frustrated, says downtown councillor

Windsor's downtown councillor Renaldo Agostino asked Overholt what she would say to business owners that have people sleeping on their doorsteps. 

"We need to find housing for these people because there isn't that desire to curl up in a doorway. It's a question of bringing those resources," said Overholt. 

"I think the frustration is that when people are seeking support, they're not able to get the support that they need."

Agostino, who praised city staff for their work in the community, outlined what business owners are worried about.

"The issues that business owners, especially business owners downtown are facing, are the ones that don't want to seek help, the ones that don't want to leave," said Agostino. 

"Those business owners are extremely frustrated with the situation out there."

The debate ended when council supported Coun. Mark McKenzie's request to have staff return with a report into the ramifications of supporting the AMO policy brief.

City staff said that would be prioritized but would still take a couple of months. 

"I feel that council missed an opportunity today to take some leadership," Overholt said outside of the meeting. 

"The time to act on that is now."