Sarnia approves encampment rules, pending constitutionality check

Draft rules Sarnia’s city solicitor says would keep homeless encampments out of almost every city park have council’s approval.

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Council 7-2 — Couns. Terry Burrell and Dave Boushy were opposed — Monday approved encampment response rulesincluding keeping tents 100 metres from play equipment, pools, childcare centres, residential properties, and completely out of Canatara, Centennial and Germain parks.

They also have to be kept back five to 50 metres from things like sidewalks, sports fields, roads, bus stops, bleachers, docks and watercourses.

The draft protocol, pending a third-party assessment of its constitutionality, would also keep encampments off the Howard Watson Nature Trail, as well as off public waterfront and beach properties in the city.

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

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“Truly accessible” shelter spaces — allowing couples to stay together, people to bring in pets or drugs, and ensuring safety from violence and sexual predation — are needed, officials have said.

“Part of the issue we’re facing with drafting an encampment protocol is if you make the prohibitions and restrictions so stringent that you don’t leave anywhere in the city … where we won’t actively remove (tents) … it does look (like) a human rights violation,” said acting city solicitor Randi Kalar.

If the protocol is OK’d by third-party lawyers, the council won’t need to meet again for the rules to go into effect, city chief administrator Chris Carter said.

“(They) would then be implemented automatically, with a public notice,” he said.

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Any persons, at new encampments in restricted areas under the protocol and reported to city bylaw — 519-332-0330 ext. 3301 — would be given 24 hours to relocate or be removed by bylaw officers and police, the document says.

In permitted areas, free-standing shelters in a row, not clustered, would be capped at 15 per property, and not more than 20 people, it says.

County social services, public health, and teams of hospital workers and paramedics would provide services, including help with things like applying for rent supplements, referrals to other healthcare providers as needed, and harm reduction supplies, the document says.

The new protocol won’t have an immediate impact at Rainbow Park, Kalar said, where a growing encampment has sparked public protest after drug use, firesand violence.

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Police said they won’t remove people from the park without a short ordershe noted, given constitutionality and human rights concerns.

“We are working with the police to try to move the people in Rainbow Park to alternate locations,” Kalar said about the city’s current approach.

“So the goal is to connect them with resources and shelter and to hopefully help with the crime and other issues that are happening there.”

Security, portable washrooms, fencing and lighting were recently installed at the park.

Costing for the first 30 days of those measures is expected later this month.

Council also Monday supported a call from Coun. Bill Dennis for staff reports monthly on all costs associated with the Rainbow Park encampment, including the time city staff, county social services personnel and emergency responders have invested since it formed last winter.

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And council agreed with Burrell’s idea to meet in August, on a date not yet determined, largely to keep tabs on the Rainbow Park situation. Council typically takes a two-month summer break between its July and September meetings.

Carter was also asked to look into boosting security at Rainbow Park, currently only there during daylight hours, and to up washroom availability there from the current four hours per day, amid sanitation concerns.

Carter said he’s looking into both, noting increasing security could mean contracting a second security company, or paying off-duty police officers.

“Right now the security firm is only willing to participate (during the) hours of service that we currently have,” he said.

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Burrell said he’s against anything enabling encampments, and said he’s worried about the encampment protocol’s potential liability to the city.

Kalar noted she’s talked with other cities dealing with encampments and the city’s insurance provider, and said she’s unaware of any liability issues in other municipalities so far.

“It all comes down to whether the City of Sarnia is negligent in whatever issue happens,” she said, noting that can only be determined on a case-by-case basis.

Mayor Mike Bradley called the encampment protocol a good start.

“Maybe we’ll have to massage it as things unfold,” he said, noting Lambton County Council has called for the province to help the many municipalities in Ontario facing similar homelessness issues, amid mental health, substance dependence and housing availability challenges.

Sarnia first approved drafting an encampment protocol in Mayand gave the task to the county leadership and well-being committee.

The committee which usually meets quarterly, after about a month, was unable to progress quickly enough and referred the matter to city staff.

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