The judge found the bylaw violates the Charter rights of the encampment residents because of the region’s lack of adequate shelter spaces
The Region of Waterloo had asked the court to find that roughly 50 people living in a Kitchener, Ont., encampment were in violation of its trespassing bylaw.Sign up to receive daily headline news from Ottawa Citizen, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails or any newsletter. Postmedia Network Inc.
The ruling comes after two decisions where Ontario judges ruled against residents fighting to prevent encampment evictions at city parks in Toronto and Hamilton. In those cases, the judges found there was adequate space to accommodate “all of the cities’ homeless,” Valente wrote. The encampment at the centre of the case is set on a half-acre empty gravel lot the region intended to use as parking for nearby transit stations.
The city hired a security firm in March to monitor the encampment and respond to any complaints, mostly from nearly businesses. On June 6, it posted a notice requiring residents to leave the property by end of the month.
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