By Cecilia Nasmith
A special July 4 Cobourg council meeting will address the request of a group of advocates who have asked the town to suspend bylaw enforcement efforts that result in homeless citizens being forced out of the tents or temporary jerry-built structures in which they have sought shelter.
The group – Jane Lawson, Aimee Johnston, Chris Kneilands, Virginia Bailey, Brad Bridges, Angela Turpin and Megan Sheffield, all Cobourg residents – called for the moratorium at Monday's council meeting and for the town, meanwhile, to set aside two approved encampment areas in which they might shelter undisturbed.
The motion that resulted from their presentation calls for the town to work with Northumberland County, the Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge District Health Unit, the Cobourg Fire Department, the Cobourg Police Service and people with lived experience in preparing the report they will consider next Monday.
Group spokeswoman Lawson said they were a group of concerned citizens asking that the town “make life easier and more hopeful for those of us who are living in this community without shelter.”
This is happening more and more, she continued, in the face of increasing evictions and the rise of shelter costs beyond reach of many, “leaving community members forced to seek shelter where they can.”
All known data indicate 78 Northumberland residents are officially listed as homeless, while there are only 24 shelter beds. As a result, homeless individuals who don't live in their cars rely on tents and shelters built from anything they can find set up wherever they think might be most appropriate – often in parks.
These shelters are often destroyed by bylaw officers, Lawson said.
“This leaves vulnerable community members with fewer choices, pushed into desperation and isolation, and no closer to finding housing.”
It's not a situation unique to Cobourg, she noted. Lack of adequate shelter is creating a growing population of unhoused and unsheltered individuals in virtually any city in the provinces.
“The UN National Protocol for Homeless Encampments in Canada says the right to shelter is enshrined in national law,” she insisted.
“Governments cannot use force to destroy people's homes, even if they are made of canvas.”
Ideally, as both the Town of Cobourg and the County of Northumberland pursue affordable-housing solutions in which both are actively engaged, they are requesting a moratorium on enforcement of bylaws that empower the removal of temporary shelters, as well as the designation of two potential encampment areas where tenting may be permitted for those without housing options.
Ideally, these encampment areas would have access to clean, safe drinking water, sanitation and waste-management facilities, and such outreach services as harm reduction measures.
They also ask that all planning toward affordable-housing solutions add to the town's roster of partners those with lived experience of homelessness.
Lengthy council debate after the presentation uncovered many layers of challenges in complying with their requests.
Mayor John Henderson pointed out that the town's bylaw enforcement officers act on behalf of the town, whereas any enforcement by the police is out of their hands. He suggested the group make a presentation directly to the Cobourg Police Services Board.
Also, at the county level, Henderson chairs the Community and Social Services standing committee for county council – he suggested they make a presentation to that committee, and perhaps to a regular session of county council as well. And since homelessness can be a health issue, he also suggested they make a presentation to a Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge District Health Unit board of health meeting.
Municipal Clerk Brent Larmer said that enforcement efforts against encampments typically uphold the noise and curfew provisions in the parks bylaw, as well as the nuisance bylaw and trespass-to-property bylaw. To put enforcement on hold requires another bylaw to that effect, he said.
To date in 2022, they have had 11 reactive complaints of camping in parks, four of them in June. The process typically involves a notice to vacate and provision to the people involved of a homeless-resource fact sheet and the county's emergency shelter and resources pamphlet. Any personal effects left behind are held 48 hours and then disposed of.
And of course, he added, there are always liability concerns. The mayor added that there are safety concerns, given the cooking facilities – barbecues, for example – that would undoubtedly be in use.
Councillors had hoped for a report for their next meeting – July 18 – that would include consultation with the county, the health unit, fire and police services, as well as individuals with lived homeless experience in a look at how to prepare a bylaw that would allow changes to enforcement.
Councillor Nicole Beatty pointed out that this date is three weeks away. The only alternative, Larmer said, is a special meeting – he suggested the July 4 date.
Also on the agenda for the July 4 meeting is the Notice of Motion Councillor Beatty presented, calling for staff to develop an Encampment Response Plan designed to help those in encampment transition to safer, more humane accommodation.
The motion further provides that an encampment site is only to be cleared once everyone in it has been offered safe and appropriate indoor accommodation and – once a site is cleared - any personal belongings left behind will be stored for two weeks.
