KENORA — A government bill that could mean large fines and jail sentences for homeless people with drug problems in Ontario seems mean and disturbing to Marlene Elder.
“I know people that are outside and it’s very cold, and for the premier to basically say ‘Well, we’re going to give the police more powers to dismantle (encampments) and arrest people’ isn’t any solution,” Elder said in reaction to Premier Doug Ford’s plan to combat encampments of the unhoused.
Ford said his Conservative government will amend trespassing laws to allow stiff fines for repeat offenders.
Anyone found using illicit drugs in public could be fined up to $10,000 or sentenced to six months in jail if the government’s legislation is passed.
Ford said the legislation will give municipalities and police the tools they need to crack down on trespassers and drug users, including those living in encampments.
Thunder Bay Mayor Ken Boshcoff told Newswatch last week the legislation might “actually make things safer for those people who are in encampments knowing that that’s an area that has some measure of refuge and safeguarding.”
Elder, who has been aiding the homeless for years as a volunteer in the non-profit group Kenora Moving Forward, doubts very much that it will help at all.
Elder said she is “dismayed and disturbed” by Ford’s approach to homelessness and substance abuse.
“And I don’t want to combine the two issues – homelessness and tent encampments aren’t just for people that are using substances,” she said.
“But I’m equally horrified by his ‘Well, I don’t believe in harm reduction’ stance,” she added, referring to the Ford government’s position on safe-use sites for drug users.
“The police often say ‘Well, we can’t arrest ourselves out of this.’ You can’t legislate yourselves out of it, either.”
Outlawing homelessness is a losing strategy, she said.
“How is that going to work when there’s no place for people to be and it’s cold? I can’t imagine.”
The worst part of Ford’s approach is “the meanness in it and the pandering,” said Elder.
“I guess it’s easier to appeal to hate than to kindness, unfortunately. And, you know, hate and fear get more airplay.”
In addition to the measures relating to trespassing and drug use, Ford announced additional funding to expand shelters and create temporary shelter villages, a top-up to the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit, and more money for affordable housing projects.
It’s in those measures that Kenora Mayor Andrew Poirier sees positives.
“One thing that tweaked my curiosity was the whole piece about investing more money in shelters, because that’s something that could be done fairly quickly and may help alleviate some of the encampments,” Poirier said.
Ford’s plan has “pieces in there that might help the agencies and the organizations that run homeless shelters,” the mayor stated, adding that he is “waiting for more details.”
