Bylaw to clear Kitchener encampment passed by Region of Waterloo council

Kate Bueckert · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 24, 2025 10:31 AM EDT | Last Updated: 7 minutes ago

Regional councillors person voted successful favour of a site-specific bylaw that paves the mode for the municipality to wide an encampment astatine 100 Victoria St. S. successful Kitchener by Dec. 1.

The portion says the spot is needed by Metrolinx arsenic it makes plans to rise tracks for a caller transit hub that volition beryllium built astatine the country of King Street and Victoria Street.

The bylaw was passed Wednesday nighttime during the assembly meeting, but not earlier assembly heard from much than 20 radical who were acrophobic astir what would hap to the radical who telephone the encampment tract home.

One of the speakers was Sid MacDonald of Kitchener, who said assembly needed to see what relation the bylaw would person connected women and gender-diverse radical successful the community. MacDonald said determination aren't capable structure beds for this demographic successful Waterloo region.

MacDonald said the bylaw prohibits radical from moving their tents without support from the portion "restricting escaped question with superior information implications" and argued the bylaw was not "trauma informed."

"For women and gender-diverse individuals, the quality to determination a structure is simply a mode to summation visibility, person a airy implicit their heads astatine nighttime oregon region themselves from idiosyncratic who makes them consciousness unsafe," MacDonald said.

Erin Dej of Cambridge, who has done probe successful homelessness for 15 years, supports the region's program to extremity chronic homelessness.

But Dej said the caller bylaw "does not adhere to that program that you endorsed" and asked councillors to cull it.

"One of the reasons the program [the extremity chronic homelessness] is truthful exceptional is due to the fact that it outlines some the process and the outcomes to addressing homelessness. The bylaw successful beforehand of you fails connected some these counts," Dej said.

Tara Jones is simply a readying pupil astatine the University of Waterloo who has besides experienced homelessness "so this is not lone an world contented for maine but a profoundly idiosyncratic one."

Jones said the encampment provides stableness for the radical who unrecorded determination and the bylaw would displace radical and it would bounds outreach workers' quality to link with radical experiencing homelessness.

"This bylaw undermines the region's commitments to compassion, equity and homes for all," Jones said.

LISTEN | Waterloo Region Community Legal Services connected projected bylaw to wide Kitchener encampment:

'I bash not privation to spot a bulldozed encampment'

Coun. Chantal Huinink said she supported the bylaw due to the fact that it would really service and enactment the radical surviving there, particularly arsenic she has heard radical person died there because they were lacking supports.

"I truly don't deliberation that the champion mode to enactment our astir susceptible members of the assemblage is to support the encampment indefinitely," she said. "I deliberation the suite of services that are offered successful the program is bully and we decidedly request to beryllium vigilant successful making definite that radical surviving astatine 100 Vic presently don't autumn done the cracks but I deliberation that we tin bash that arsenic the caring assembly and assemblage that we are."

Coun. Colleen James said she wanted to guarantee the process to determination radical "ensures humanity."

"I bash not privation to spot a bulldozed encampment. I bash not privation to spot different levels of authorities travel successful and dehumanize you each successful immoderate capacity," James said to radical who attended the assembly meeting. "With the attack that this is taking close now, the different enactment is not an enactment I privation to spot hap ever again. So I volition enactment this bylaw, I americium putting spot successful a process close now, due to the fact that the different enactment to maine is simply a dehumanizing option."

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Councillors debated whether a idiosyncratic who contravenes the bylaw could beryllium fined up to $5,000, and whether it was just to good radical who are experiencing homelessness. A ballot to amend the bylaw to region the good was defeated. Councillors decided to permission it successful the bylaw due to the fact that it's akin to different bylaws including the region's Code of Use bylaw.

Peter Sweeney, commissioner of assemblage services, says determination unit volition enactment with radical who are presently surviving astatine the tract to assistance them find alternate housing.

"Both determination unit and partners crossed the assemblage person been moving unneurotic to enactment folks who person been residing there. In the past fig of months, we person continued to summation our visits from our unsheltered workers," helium said, noting they are licensed societal workers.

"They are each trained successful this space. They are professionals and they absorption connected gathering those one-on-one relationships."

Council voted 13-1 to walk the caller bylaw. The lone ballot against was from Coun. Pam Wolf, who represents Cambridge. Two councillors were absent.

Region volition request to spell backmost to tribunal with bylaw

Tents astatine the 100 Victoria St. encampment first went up successful aboriginal 2022. The fig of radical surviving astatine the tract has changed depending connected the clip of year, with much radical determination during the warmer months.

The portion antecedently tried to wide radical from surviving connected the tract successful 2022. In January 2023, a Kitchener justice ruled the portion couldn't evict radical from the tract unless they gave them different spot to live.

The portion tried to reason the encampment went against a bylaw connected nationalist behaviour connected regionally owned properties.

Justice M.J. Valente cited the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and said the region's plans to determination radical disconnected the tract astatine the clip went against the person's rights to life, liberty and information of the person. That's because, Valente said successful his ruling, the portion lacked capable structure abstraction for everyone who was homeless.

Last week, acting determination solicitor Fiona McCrea said erstwhile the bylaw is passed the portion could spell backmost to tribunal to get guidance connected however to determination forward.

"Once we person a determination from council, past we'll marque a determination connected the timing for the tribunal proceedings," McCrae said, adding she expected the portion to instrumentality to the justice "as soon arsenic is reasonably practical" aft assembly approves the bylaw.