Guelph mayor pulls motion about possible sanctioned encampment in order to review recent court ruling

A motion to consider creating a sanctioned, temporary encampment site in Guelph will not go before councillors on Tuesday as planned.

Guelph Mayor Cam Guthrie had drafted the motion, which would have asked staff to create a report on the feasibility of an encampment that's not located downtown.

But on Saturday, he said he was removing the motion from the agenda. That's because on Friday, a judge denied an application by the City of Kingston to clear an encampment located in one of its parks.

Justice Ian Carter found the city's ban on overnight sheltering was unconstitutional. In his decision, Carter also added an exception to Kingston's bylaw that would allow people who are homeless to temporarily put up shelters in parks.

"This decision will need time to review and to determine the implications across Ontario," Guthrie said in an update on X, formerly Twitter.

"To make sure the discussions at council are constructive and not rushed, I am removing my motions planned for this upcoming Tuesday at city council."

Need for balance downtown, mayor says

Guthrie had previously said he had drafted the motion because he wanted to find a way to balance the needs of people who are experiencing homelessness in Guelph with the safety and concerns of people who live, work and visit the downtown area.

In an interview with CBC Radio's Ontario Today last Wednesday, Guthrie said the city has seen the number of encampments double in the past year, from 10 to 20.

"I am feeling so horrible for those people that have found themselves in this situation and my intent in bringing forward this discussion and motion to council and to the community … is to try to elevate this issue to where we can actually try to help the very people that are finding themselves in these encampments," Guthrie said.

"But at the same time, I also want to try to help … the friction and the conflict that is continually happening, especially within our downtown cores, on our main streets, where these issues are really affecting the rights of people that are coming to our downtown, the employees, the business owners, the tourism."

LISTEN | Ontario Today asked callers whether homeless encampments should be supported or dismantled:

Initial motion criticized

Guthrie had initially proposed a motion that asked staff to look at prohibiting temporary or permanent structures or shelters without permission on lands "owned or occupied" by the city within the downtown core. 

He was criticized by many for his initial motion.

Coun. Erin Caton wrote on X that "there is zero way I would ever vote for this. This is counter to human rights … this is an upsetting motion and inhumane."

Coun. Phil Allt also wrote on X that he had "significant concerns with this" and said court rulings — including one in the Region of Waterloo where a judge ruled the municipality couldn't evict encampment residents from a vacant lot until it had enough shelter spaces for them — "suggest that this [motion] is illegal."

Carolyn Whitzman, a University of Ottawa housing researcher, says she called Guthrie and spoke to him about the motion.

"I don't think I'm the only person who called him up and yelled at him," she said.

"I understand that it's having a bad impact on local businesses and that people complain about it, but the thing is then you need to do something better."

She said cities including London, Ont., and Halifax are currently dealing with encampments in their downtowns and said it's a "visual reminder" that city staff and politicians need to keep the issue of homelessness "top of mind" as they create policies.

"You need to come up with a plan and talk to the people who are encampments and see that they agree to that plan," she said.

"Picking people's belongings up and forcibly moving them a kilometre away isn't really a long term plan and it's not a cost effective plan. It costs a lot less to pay rent supplements on private housing and have support service workers visit those places than to bring in bylaws and policing and break up encampments."

Motion called for province to 'fully fund' initiatives

Last Wednesday, Guthrie updated the motion after he said he received "respectful input and feedback" from the public.

The new motion calls for:

• A report from staff to be created using a human rights approach to housing to draft a bylaw to prohibit temporary or permanent structures or shelters in the downtown without permission.
• A report "as soon as possible" on the "feasibility of a sanctioned temporary encampment site" including financial impacts and what infrastructure would be needed to create it.
• Appropriate social services agencies, including the County of Wellington which oversees housing issues in the city, to be asked to see what they can do to help people in encampments right now.
• Staff to draft a safe use of public space bylaw to "address a variety of behaviours that interfere with the public's right to use and enjoy public places."
• For the province to "fully fund initiatives related to encampments, including the necessary infrastructure and operating costs."

Guthrie said as part of the Ontario Big City Mayors caucus, a letter was sent to the province in June 2022 asking for an emergency meeting with the province about chronic homelessness and its impacts on their communities.

That meeting still has not happened, he said.

"We sent up the flares. We sent up the message to the province that we were seeing a drastic increase of these conflicts and friction," Guthrie said.

Guthrie said this is a mental health and addictions issue, which ultimately is health care.

"We were never structured for the financial capacity or the staffing capacity for health care," he said.

"I'm very disappointed now coming into the winter here, we have huge problems of homelessness — and I'm speaking really a lot on behalf of many mayors across the province that are experiencing this same frustration and complex issue — and we need the province to deal with this in the emergency and the crisis situation that it is."

The agenda for Tuesday's meeting shows that 41 people had signed up to speak to council about Guthrie's motion while 70 letters had been received for councillors to review.