Section 13 - Permission to Survive [April 2022] To the Members of Peterborough City Council and The Chief Administrative Officer, There are currently people in Peterborough who are experiencing homelessness and living outside during winter. Due to shelter restrictions (colloquially known as bans), a desire to care for a pet, substance use and/or mental health challenges, there are people for whom the shelter system is not accessible. It is also the case that our emergency shelters are at capacity most nights – and people are not always eligible for the beds that are available (e.g., adults cannot use a bed for a youth). People experiencing homelessness are doing whatever they can to survive, whether it is squatting, sleeping in a stairwell, or in a public park. Unfortunately, the Parks and Facilities By-law has made sleeping in parks illegal. But there is a provision in the By-law that allows for camping without a permit; we see this as one way to increase the safety and security for people experiencing homelessness in our city. Section 13 of this by-law states that individuals may be allowed to sleep in parks without a permit, should there not be enough shelter space for everyone needing shelter. Until there is secure and permanent housing for everyone, the City and County of Peterborough should utilize Section 13 of the Parks and Facilities Bylaw so that people have access to bathrooms and a safe place to camp each night. In 2019, in response to the emergence of tent city, the City of Peterborough passed the Parks and Facilities Bylaw making it illegal to sleep in parks or set up tents without a permit.2 Tent City disappeared, but those who occupied it did not. Instead they were threatened with fines and forced to camp out of view. People now have to ask permission to survive, and there is no clear way for them to do so if they are unable to use or choose not to use our emergency shelter system. We see this happening in cities and communities across Canada. While we have not had a series of major encampments being torn down in our community, since the dismantling of our own Tent City, tents and people’s belongings are quietly being confiscated and people moved along on an ongoing basis. On the City of Peterborough’s Parks website, there are no instructions on how to request a permit to be allowed to sleep in a park. There are, however, clear instructions on how to “report prohibited tenting in a City park.”10 The meaning of criminalization is “the action of turning someone into a criminal by making their activities illegal.”6 This is what we are doing to individuals living in poverty. One individual currently sleeping outside in Peterborough this winter stated: I think when people are living outside, they are much more likely to break the law to survive. It’s -30 out, you bet I’m busting through a door to stay warm. If we were able to set up a tent somewhere, have the supplies and blankets we needed, we wouldn’t have to commit crimes to make it through the night (personal communication, January 27, 2022). Those who do not feel safe or who are unable to access the shelter system now have no legal place to sleep. COVID-19, along with rising class inequity and the marked shift in housing as an investment for the wealthy versus a basic human need, has exacerbated the magnitude of outdoor homelessness across Canada. Diminishing supply of shelter beds, housing and community supports has forced unhoused individuals to address their needs by using provisional solutions such as sleeping on the street, outside, and in stairwells; using the bathroom outside either in public or on private property; and disposing of garbage on the street where trash cans aren’t available. These activities aren’t comfortable or enjoyable for anyone, and people wouldn’t choose to live this way if they had another option. At least 98% of individuals surveyed in the Peterborough Point in Time Count 2018 stated they would choose housing over homelessness.15 1 Section 13 - Permission to Survive [April 2022] There are several reasons why someone would need to set up shelter outside, and insufficient shelter space is only one of them. Some people don’t feel comfortable using emergency shelters, while others face service restrictions that don’t allow them access. From 2020 to 2021, the total number of people who have received temporary or indefinite bans from shelters has increased 300%; In the fourth quarter of 2020, 56 individuals received 133 restrictions. In the third quarter of 2021, 123 individuals received 394 restrictions13. Without shelter as an option, these individuals have few, if any, legal places to exist. We can take a step forward. Section 13 of the Parks and Facilities By-Law states: Where the CAO [Chief Administrative Officer], in consultation with any of the Commissioner of Community Services, the Manager, Social Services or the Manager, Public Works, is satisfied that the number of locally available shelter beds is less than the number of individuals in need of shelter, the CAO may permit such individuals to erect and be within temporary structures, huts or tents in a Park without a permit.2 In other words, Peterborough’s Chief Administrative Officer has the power to allow those experiencing homelessness to set up shelter in public parks without fear of being fined and having their belongings taken. To make this happen, the CAO needs to recognize that Peterborough currently has fewer shelter beds than people in need of shelter, and then make the decision to allow individuals to sleep in parks. The City of Peterborough’s own numbers show that we’ve been at this point since at least April 2019. 11 From two Freedom of Information Act requests made in 2021, we have learned the following: There are 91 shelter beds in Peterborough. Shelters are often at or near capacity, with an average of 13 beds available in the system on any given night, many of which are only available to youth [aged 16-24].12 Since May of 2020, there have been an average of 106 people who are experiencing homelessness and spend the majority of their nights outside the shelter system (outdoors, couch surfing, hospitals, etc.). Even if all shelter beds were available, there are still not enough for all those not accessing the shelter system right now. And, in actuality, 86% of shelter beds are consistently occupied.12 Tents are not the answer: housing is. But in the absence of affordable, safe, and accessible housing, what are people to do? Those currently living outside have named this as one temporary measure that can provide some stability as they seek out housing. We cannot punish our way to ending homelessness. To do so actually works against the City’s own homelessness response in the following three ways: 1. Rehousing efforts are more difficult. The City of Peterborough has committed to a philosophy called “Housing First.”3 This is a philosophy based on choice, immediate access to housing, harm reduction and recovery, and integrating people into the community. By making tenting illegal, we are at odds with this philosophy. When people are constantly asked to move along and their belongings and tents are consistently thrown away, we are uprooting any small fraction of stability and community that they have established. We limit their access to health care, housing opportunities and intensify their depth of need by further destabilizing and causing increased recurring trauma.5 Rather than integrating people into the community, they are pushed further out. 2 Section 13 - Permission to Survive [April 2022] 2. Connection is lost with the most vulnerable in our community. The City of Peterborough uses a Coordinated Access System to work towards ending homelessness.3 The aim of this system is to know every person experiencing homelessness by name and their unique needs. By forcing people experiencing homelessness out of sight, we lose valuable opportunities to engage with them. The City reported that 48% of the people who exit the coordinated access system are moved to “inactive” because they are not seen or heard from in 90 days.7 This suggests we need to do better to keep in touch with people to know that we are prioritizing the most vulnerable for the available housing and supports. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the disconnection. Organizations providing mobile vaccination clinics in our community have struggled to find individuals sleeping rough in order to provide access to vaccinations, and even wound care. 3. We violate people's human rights. As stated earlier, the City of Peterborough is committed to a “Housing First” philosophy.3 Central to “Housing First” is the belief that housing is a human right. International human rights law states that housing is a fundamental right linked to dignity and life – and governments are thus responsible for ensuring that all people have access to adequate housing. Canada’s National Housing Strategy Act 9 declares the right to housing on a national scale. As inadequate as it is, a tent is a person’s house, and until the municipal government is able to offer an alternative, we are violating people’s human rights by making it illegal for them to set it up. It has been done. In a case that bears similarities to Peterborough, a B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled in favour of an encampment in Prince George back in October 2021, citing the city’s insufficient shelter space for its unhoused population. He also noted that its lack of low barrier shelters posed additional barriers to those living with mental health disorders and addiction.8 Further, in January 2022, another B.C. judge ruled against evictions issued against residents of an encampment in Vancouver’s CRAB Park. Justice Kirchner wrote that the Vancouver Park Board’s general manager did not consider how this would interfere with the residents’ ability to access necessary services and facilities. He asserted that the residents have a right to be given adequate notice and an opportunity to be heard before issuing such orders.15 Until the City of Peterborough can ensure all residents have access to safe and adequate housing or, at the very least, shelter beds available to anyone who requires them, we, the undersigned, are urging Peterborough City Council to request the CAO enact Section 13 of the Parks and Facilities By-Law. In addition, we request the City of Peterborough open a park where those experiencing homlessness can set up tents legally, with access to water, toilet facilities, and supports. This would allow the City of Peterborough to take the first steps in decriminalizing those experiencing homelessness. This step must be taken to work towards ensuring no one is denied the fundamental right to housing. 3 Section 13 - Permission to Survive [April 2022] Citations 1. Built for Zero Peterborough. (2022, March). Built for zero report card: February 2022. https://www.peterborough.ca/en/city-services/resources/Documents/Social-Services/Housing-and-Shelter /HomelessnessReportCard-Feb22.pdf 2. City of Peterborough, By-law No. 19-074, Being a by-law to regulate and promote responsible, shared use and enjoyment of parks and related facilities. (12 August, 2019). 3. City of Peterborough Social Services. (2019). Peterborough Homelessness Coordinated Access System. https://www.uwpeterborough.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Peterborough-Homelessness-Coordinated- Access-System.pdf 4. Clysdale, T. (2021, November 17). Data shows few homeless are coming to Peterborough from outside: Social Services debates myth. The Star. https://www.thestar.com/local-peterborough/news/2021/11/17/data-shows-few-homeless-are-coming-to-p eterborough-from-outside-social-services-debates-myth.html?li_source=LI&li_medium=star_web_ymbii 5. Cohen, R., Yetvin, W., & Khadduri, J. (2019). Understanding encampments of people experiencing homelessness and community responses: Emerging evidence as of late 2018. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/Understanding-Encampments.pdf 6. “Criminalization.” Oxford Dictionary. 7. Forrest, E. (2020). A Year of Coordinated Access 2019-2020 The Road to Functional Zero in Peterborough City and County. City of Peterborough Social Services Division. https://www.peterborough.ca/en/city-services/housing-and-shelter-homelessness-prevention.aspx 8. Kurjata, A. (2021, October 22). Judge rules homeless camp in downtown Prince George can stay due to lack of shelters in city. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/prince-george-homeless-camp-court-ruling-1.6222416 9. National Housing Strategy Act, S.C. c. 29, s. 313. (2019). https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/n-11.2/FullText.html 10. Parks. City of Peterborough. (n.d.). Retrieved September 28, 2021, from https://www.peterborough.ca/en/explore-and-play/parks.aspx#A-brief-overview-of-the-Parks-and-Facilitie s-By-Law 11. Peterborough City Clerk’s Office. (2021, June 30). Re: Request for Information under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Clerk’s File: FOI 21-053. 12. Peterborough City Clerk’s Office. (2021, July 26). Re: Request under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Clerk’s File: FOI 21-069. 13. Peterborough City Clerk’s Office (2021). Re: Request under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Clerk’s File: FOI 21-096. 14. Throop, B. (2021, November 9). “They have nowhere to go”: Low vacancy in Peterborough’s emergency shelters fuels push to end tenting ban in city parks. Peterborough Currents. https://peterboroughcurrents.ca/housing/low-shelter-vacancy-fuels-push-to-end-tenting-ban/#:~:text=Pete rborough's%20four%20emergency%20shelters%20have%2091%20beds%20in%20total 15. Uguen-Csenge, E. (2022, January 13). Judge rejects eviction orders against homeless encampment in Vancouver. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/judge-rejects-eviction-orders-against-homeless-encam pment-in-vancouver-1.6314776 16. United Way Peterborough and District, Peterborough County, & City of Peterborough. (2018). A roof over my head: 2018 enumeration report. https://www.peterborough.ca/en/city-services/resources/Documents/Social-Services/Housing-and-Shelter /2018-A-Roof-Over-My-Head.pdf 4
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