Protest in support of encampment residents in Hamilton stops city staff from working

With winter coming soonand the teardowns of encampments continuing over the past week, the Hamilton Encampment Support Network (HESN) and other supporters of encampment residents upped the ante Friday to prevent city workers from dismantling the make-shift housing that has popped up in parks across the city.

About 30 people gathered Friday outside a city public works facility near the Chedoke Golf Course, preventing vehicles from exiting the facility.

By mid-afternoon, HESN said, workers left the facility and it closed for the day, and the network declared success in delaying evictions.

"We picked this location as a way to delay an encampment eviction, even if for a day," said HESN volunteer Eshan Merali. "We were told that evictions were going to be ramped up to the point of being completed by today."

In a statement from the city, it said "approximately 30 staff and about 10 vehicles were prevented from attending work sites" Friday, including some from parks and energy departments.

Throughout the day, some protesters played games of chess, others shared food, played music or made speeches, as they stood in solidarity with encampment residents.

HESN volunteer Merima Menzildzic said part of frustration has been over whether shelter space is available. The city has said that there are spaces, she said, but "the reality on the ground is that people are being told there are no shelter spaces," she said, adding that a lot of spaces available are not accessible for some individuals or would separate families.

Protesters were also hoping to start a dialogue with city workers. "We want to let them know that they have the right to refuse this work," said Merali.

Menzildzic agreed.

"This kind of position that they put workers in where [they] come in to remove belonging to evict people only to have the city not actually respond in a meaningful way is also work that workers can reflect on and take action to refuse to do."

Teardowns happening since court decision

Last month, five people who had lived in encampments were named in an application to Superior Court seeking an injunction to stop the City of Hamilton from tearing them down.

On Nov. 2, Justice Andrew Goodman ruled the city can enforce its bylaw against tents in public spaces, prompting disappointment from some encampment residents and from the Hamilton Community Legal Clinic.

"There remains a segment of Hamilton's population, the most vulnerable, who have nowhere else to go," the clinic's statement read.

Since then, a number of teardowns have been reported, included last weekend in Woodland Park and earlier this week at Jackie Washington Park. However, these evictions have not stopped new encampments from emerging again at the same parks, HESN says.

"We've noticed that even the encampments that were cleared last week have started popping up again," said Menzildzic, "because people don't have access to the shelter spaces."

Stephanie Cox, with the Hamilton Community Legal Clinic, shared concerns over the fact that the city does not have a plan to protect people during the winter.

"The city has not developed their winter response to homelessness policy, which is very concerning given that the cold is here and the city has been aware of their inability to meet shelter demands for months," she said in an email to CBC Hamilton.

Cox said encampment residents have reported to the legal clinic that the city's housing outreach team has not engaged them and they are not receiving notices of bylaw infraction. Instead, she said, bylaw staff enterparks, and take away tents and belongings "and the homeless person is left standing with nothing and nowhere to go."

"This is traumatizing for them and places them at risk of death for a myriad of reasons including exposure to the harsh elements and a loss of connection to doctors that provide proactive lifesaving treatment," she added. "It does not have to be this way. The city can exercise its powers to stop bylaw enforcement."

Range of work prevented

The city released a statement Friday afternoon acknowledging the actions at the public works facility, and said some of the staff whose work was prevented included those who cut grass, collect garbage in parks and workers who were due to install the Christmas tree in Dundas on Friday.

"The city respects people's right to peacefully protest, but must also ensure the safety and respectful treatment of city staff in their workplace. Majority of staff at the location were sent home. Remaining staff were redeployed to other work and work locations today," its statement read.

As for its approach for encampment teardowns, the city "continues to take into consideration the safety and well-being of individuals experiencing homelessness," it said, adding that it continues to enforce its bylaw that prohibits camping in public spaces.

"With respect to available shelter space and where individuals are going, the Housing Services' Housing Focused Street Outreach Team connects with unsheltered individuals, regardless of their circumstances, to assess their immediate individual needs and housing preferences and available supports in the community."

Since Nov. 2, according to the city, 40 people from encampments were referred to available spaces in shelters or hotels. "To date, 12 individuals/couples accepted the shelter spaces that were offered," it said.