Chatham-Kent council heard from their legal staff about the protocol with a process to deal with homeless encampment issues, at their meeting held on Monday evening.
Homeless encampments have been an issue in recent years in Chatham-Kent. A report from Chatham-Kent staff lays out a step-by-step protocol for a consistent and coordinated approach to addressing encampments on both private land and municipal-owned land.
Several Canadian courts have established that unhoused people have a right to shelter on public lands.
Councillors expressed the concerns of local business owners who have to deal with encampments nearby. They also brought up the issue of perhaps establishing an area in a designated place.
Chatham-Kent CAO Michael Duben said a report will come back to council in the future about the situation as they plan to talk to other municipalities about whether a sanctioned area could be created for an encampment, noting there is pressure to balance everybody’s needs.
David Taylor, Chatham-Kent’s director of legal services, said it’s an evolving area regarding the law around encampments. Additionally, the way Ontario municipalities approach the issue of encampments is evolving quite rapidly, Taylor said.
“It’s a complex issue. It’s one that certainly has resulted in significant tensions between property owners and unhoused persons, between businesses and government agencies,” Taylor said, noting it’s not a unique issue to Chatham-Kent, as other municipalities across the province and the country also have dealt with the issue.
The protocol will help the municipality with a framework through which they will work through encampment issues, Taylor said.
The report used legal precedents set through court cases regarding encampments on municipal land in other Ontario municipalities to create a protocol that will ensure the rights of Chatham-Kent residents are respected and will prevent further harm to those who are unhoused in Chatham-Kent.
