Ontario legislation aimed at helping municipalities clear homeless encampments out of public parks will include stronger trespass laws and fines, Doug Ford announced Thursday.
out of public parks will include stronger trespass laws and fines or jail time for illegal drug use in public, Premier“These encampments are taking over public spaces, with illegal drug use happening out in the open, creating huge safety risks for people and communities,” he said at a press conference. “Enough is enough. This has to stop, and it will stop.”
The legislation would also allow police and provincial offences officers to ticket or arrest people using illegal drugs in public, with penalties of up to $10,000 or six months in jail.The government says it is considering allowing the courts to provide rehabilitation as an alternative to incarceration for minor or non-violent drug crimes, and Ford said he is not considering involuntary treatment at this time.
Shelters throughout the province are full, with some 12,000 people living in Toronto’s shelters alone. The Association of Municipalities of Ontario estimates there were at least 1,400 homeless encampments in communities small and large throughout the province last year.Ford’s critics have said measures to force people out of encampments will do little to help if there are not enough places for them to go.
That is in addition to nearly $700 million annually the province says it puts toward homelessness prevention programs and a recently announced $378 million to create 19 homelessness and addiction recovery treatment hubs, with up to 375 highly supportive housing units. Those hubs are being established in place of drug-consumption sites the province intends to shut down in the spring.
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