A legal notice for trespassing zip-ties and padlocks on a tent at the Bell Park encampment in Kingston on Wednesday, April 3, 2024. Photo by Cris Vilela/Kingstonist.
Editor's note: The following is an opinion piece submitted regarding the City of Kingston's enforcement of the daytime evacuation ban in city-owned parks beginning Tuesday, April 2, 2024. The views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Kingstonians. .
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) is deeply concerned by the City of Kingston's efforts to enforce daytime encampment bans through the eviction of unhoused and vulnerable people in Bell Park.
CCLA believes the daytime ban violates the Charter rights of people who are unhoused or live in poverty. Enforcing a daytime ban would go against the spirit of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice's ruling, handed down last November by Judge Carter, which read down a Kingston ordinance banning camping on city property. In its decision, the court declared the nighttime camping ban unconstitutional, leaving open the possibility that the daytime ban would be unconstitutional as well.
Requiring encampment residents to “pack” every day has important practical and legal implications. These include the physical and psychological strain of having to carry their belongings around all night until camping is temporarily allowed, and of not having a regular home or community. CCLA reiterates that when a state interferes with an individual's ability to protect himself, time should not determine whether that individual's dignity and independence has been violated.
“Unhoused people are vulnerable members of our communities and should not be treated like objects that can be easily dragged around like cars,” says Harini Sivalingam, director of equality programs at CCLA. .
“Unhoused individuals also have rights. They have the right to access public spaces and have their dignity respected.”
CCLA urges the City of Kingston not to take further legal action to enforce its bylaws that would harm the residents of the encampment.
The city should work with camp residents and their advocates to find alternatives that ensure their dignity and autonomy are respected.
CCLA would like to thank pro bono attorneys Alexa Vizcarro and Erica Anschuetz of Norton Rose Fulbright Canada for their representation in this matter.
Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA)
CCLA is an independent nonprofit organization with supporters from across the country. Founded in 1964, CCLA is a national human rights organization committed to protecting the rights, dignity, safety and freedom of all people in Canada.
