Collaboration on housing and homelessness issues ‘groundbreaking:’ community volunteer

Local volunteers pushing for collaboration and dialogue on solutions for homelessness in Sarnia-Lambton, recently met with the area’s elected representatives and bureaucrats.

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John Barnfield, one in a group that recently held a public forum for people to connect over the issue, called it “groundbreaking” meeting with local mayors and CAOs.

“Our hope as expressed at the (Sept. 24) forum was that we could create this climate within our community of collaboration and people wanting to work together,” he said.

The Oct. 7 meeting, called by Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley, and including top bureaucrats from the city and county, Lambton Warden Kevin Marriott, and members of a local group pushing for more supportive housing, was a step in the right direction, Barnfield said , noting plans are for another meeting in November.

Bradley also touted the importance of community involvement in the homelessness and housing issue, noting he’s been meeting with Barnfield for months.

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“The fact that … citizens are trying to do something is a huge step forward as far as I’m concerned,” he said.

Issues identified at the meeting include ending encampments by identifying sufficient transitional housing options, addressing the addictions crisis that underlies and exacerbates homelessness, and effective ongoing communication, Barnfield said.

Work on the addictions crisis and communication are underway, Lambton Warden Marriott said, noting the meeting served as an opportunity to bring Barnfield and others up to speed on what county social services are doing, including making headway on supportive and affordable housing initiatives.

“There is a lot going on that isn’t visible day to day,” he said.

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Other issues, including what to do about Rainbow Park in Sarnia, where a 40-tent encampment has been for months, remain, said Bradley.

City legal staff are looking into applying for a court order to move people out of the encampment, he said.

That’s after a county report earlier this month noted “individuals seeking assistance have their needs assessed and reasonably accommodated,” including through motel and hotel rooms, so couples and families can stay together.

Sarnia has unused emergency shelter spaces, but recent court rulings in Waterloo and Kingston, and a third-party legal opinion obtained by the city, say such beds aren’t enough to justify removing people from public parks, in violation of charter rights to life, liberty and security.

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Truly accessible shelter spaces that would allow couples to stay together, people to bring in pets or drugs, and ensure safety from violence and sexual predation are needed.

Bradley said the initial reaction from legal staff was what’s currently in place in Sarnia-Lambton “probably does not meet the needs to go for an injunction.”

County council earlier this month said it would support Sarnia with affidavit evidence about services it provides if the city seeks an injunction.

It’s important not to go to court and lose, thereby enabling the encampment in Rainbow Park to stay, Bradley said, noting ongoing encampment security and sanitation measures — security guards, fencing, a dumpster, portable toilets, and park cleanup work — there topped $100,000 in Septemberand about $260,000 since late June.

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That doesn’t include police responses to the park, which cost about$18,000 in September, a city report says.

It’s frustrating the county hasn’t helped yet with those costs, Bradley said.

“We’re doing everything we can to mitigate the impact on the neighborhood and at the same time try and find a way out of it,” he said, adding there have been “quite a few” charges laid at the park.

“There’s a lot more going on I think than can be communicated, trying to deal with all the multiple issues,” he said.

Hopes are still for the province to take the lead, he said, referring to a motion he made and county council passed in May asking Premier Doug Ford for help, given so many municipalities are in a similar plight.

Bradley noted a recent Abacus Data poll of 997 people in which 62 per cent of respondents said Ford isn’t doing enough to help municipalities deal with encampments.

“Hopefully the province will give us the helping hand we need,” he said.

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