Dozens rally at Kitchener encampment site as city says it's not evicting anyone from park

More than 30 people gathered in Victoria Park in Kitchener, Ont., on Wednesday to protest after city bylaw enforcement staff posted notices on tents at an encampment site and warned they would be removed.

Advocates say they're concerned the city was evicting people from the encampment on Roos Island.

The city says bylaw officers didn't issue eviction notices. Instead, the notices warned some tents would be removed because they appeared to be empty or abandoned.

Colin Anderson, who is currently living on Roos Island in the park, said he received one of the notices while he was away. 

"I was just out doing my daily routine, which is basically feeding myself, getting cigarettes, and looking after my dog here," Anderson told CBC News.

"Just staying in the park, staying in my tent for me is not healthy, so I have to be active."

During Wednesday's protest, no one who said they had received notices from the city had them on hand. A photo of what appeared to be a notice from the city that was shared to social media by protest organizers said tents would be removed Wednesday at 9 a.m. "due to observations of inactivity with regards to an abandoned tent."

The protesters started gathering before 9 a.m. Bylaw enforcement officers were not there.

The encampment on Roos Island in Victoria Park started in July as a protest and organizers said at the time it was strategically placed in a high traffic area along a pathway and near the park's gazebo to bring more attention to the city's growing housing problem.

At its height, there was more than 60 tents at the encampment. Since the weather has turned colder, many people have moved away from the encampment. On Wednesday morning, there were fewer than 10 tents in the area.

No eviction notices given, city says

Anderson said that all tents on the island got notices; however, Gloria MacNeil, director of bylaw enforcement with the city, insisted only three were handed out late last week and only "where staff noted inactivity."

"The tents were open to the elements and empty. Cleaning up abandoned tents has been the city's practice since the encampment began and tents that are claimed or occupied will not be removed," MacNeil said in an email statement.

"The city has not issued any eviction notices. As the Region of Waterloo makes additional shelter options available this winter, we will support the residents of Roos Island to relocate."

The city's municipal code says people cannot "leave or deposit ... garbage or waste of any kind whatsoever except in a receptacle provided." The municipal code also prohibits the act where someone would "erect, construct, build or cause to be erected, constructed or built any tent, shelter or building."

During the rally, there were some speeches after 9 a.m. and leaflets were given out by organizers. 

There were plans to march to city hall for a noon-hour rally but organizers decided against it at the last minute, saying they feared city officials would come when they were away and remove tents.