By Pam Wright
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
A committee formed to protest Doug Ford’s use of the notwithstanding clause to clear homeless encampments wants to keep the issue top of mind for Ontario voters as they head to the polls.
The group, dubbed the Ontario Coalition for the Rights of Homeless People, has nine municipal councillors on board, including Chatham Coun. Alysson Storey.
Front-line Toronto outreach worker Diana Chan McNally is part of the coalition as well.
According to Storey, the advocacy group formed in response to new rules tabled in the Ontario legislature late last year, prompted by a recommendation from Premier Ford. A letter – signed by 13 Ontario mayors, including Chatham-Kent Mayor Darrin Canniff – came back to Ford asking the premier to override portions of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to facilitate the clearing of encampments that have become a pressing problem for municipalities across the province.
Critics say that using the notwithstanding clause will result in the razing of homeless encampments, leaving those living there with nowhere else to go. But those who support the measure, including Canniff, said they are not trying to take rights away, they simply want to be able to move encampments – like the one in Rotary Park in downtown Chatham – to a more appropriate location.
With the election looming on Feb. 27, Storey and other coalition members, want voters to remember the record of Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government, which includes building the least amount of new detached housing in 70 years. There are currently 80,000 unhoused citizens in the province.
“We are concerned that if the current government is re-elected, they are going to bring the notwithstanding clause back to the table,” Storey said. “There’s no guarantee it won’t come back with a new government.”
Storey said the coalition is urging all political parties to come up with a plan to address Ontario’s chronic homelessness problem.
“The way to do that is by providing affordable and supportive housing,” she stressed, adding it costs taxpayers far more to manage homelessness than it does to end it by building homes.
