Mayors from a dozen big cities across Ontario say they want the province to use the notwithstanding clause to pass legislation that would help them handle encampments and addiction in their communities to ensure their requested measures are “implemented in a timely and effective way.
A homeless encampment in Toronto's Alexandra Park on Sunday, March 20, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
Premier Doug Ford may have goaded this response earlier this week, when he questioned if the province’s big city mayors “have the backbone” to use the notwithstanding clause to dismantle encampments in their municipalities. This clause, Section 33 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, can grant provincial legislatures the ability – through the passage of a law – to override certain parts of the charter for five years.
In response, the mayors of Barrie, Brampton, Brantford, Cambridge, Chatham-Kent, Clarington, Oakville, Oshawa, Pickering, St. Catharines, Sudbury and Windsor, penned a joint letter to the premier on Thursday, asking Ford to enact that exact clause. Some of the measures they requested include having the province step in on any court case restricting a municipality’s ability to “regulate and prohibit encampments,” boosting the existing community-based and residential mental health care system , as well as laying down legislation that provides “clear guidance” on the open use of drugs and alcohol.
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