Editor: I am writing to express my deep outrage over the municipality’s ongoing treatment of encampment residents. On three separate occasions, municipal workers have waltzed in and thrown away my property at will. I have lost everything, including my parents’ ashes and a bible I owned since I was nine years old.
Can the city replace those?
On a recent day, workers were throwing away my things while raising their voices, stripping away my dignity. I fought back, and they left, but they are coming back to finish the job.
I will continue to fight for myself and for those who cannot.
Scripture warns against this exact behavior. Proverbs 22:22 says, “Do not exploit the poor because they are poor and do not crush the needy in court.” Furthermore, Exodus 22:26-27 commands that if you take a neighbor’s cloak, you must return it by sunset, because it is their only warmth. Yet, this city strips people of their survival gear without a second thought.
The city alters bylaws to serve its own purposes, acting as though officials are above the law while treating us like insignificant beings. The municipality was given funds to put up privacy fences, yet they used that money for other things – failing to even provide the water or power sources required by the bylaws. Isaiah 10:1-2 issues a stark warning to leaders like ours: “Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed.”
I have never been more disappointed in how ungrateful and negative this city can be, especially toward the elderly. You should all be ashamed.
No one has offered me real help to secure a home. I do not require a fenced, locked facility that treats me like a criminal or a mentally handicapped person. I will not allow it.
I want my own home, a personal life, and the basic human rights protected under Section 7 of the Canadian Charter.
Gwen Wilhelm
Resident of Encampment on Grand Avenue
Chatham
