Supporters of people encamped at Belle Park in Kingston’s downtown gathered outside the Frontenac County Courthouse on Wednesday morning to hold a rally prior to hearings into the encampment.
“We’re a group of residents, community members and advocates who want to show our public opposition to the city’s court case,” Sayyida Jaffer, the lead of Justice and Poverty Reduction for the Providence Centre for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation.
In March, the city was set to evict unhoused Kingstonians from Belle Park over the winter, encouraging them to go to the city’s available shelter spaces.
The eviction process had already begun before a moratorium was enacted. Campers have since re-populated Belle Park in the area around the Integrated Care Hub.
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Jaffer says removing them from the park would mean many will move further into the woods, away from potential lifesaving care.
“People are staying by the Integrated Care Hub because they’re accessing lifesaving care and a place where they feel welcome,” says Jaffer.
In the courthouse, the city’s lawyers spoke at length about the situation at the encampment, describing drug use and sale, fire hazards and more.
“Police do not visit the site of the encampment unless there is a call for service because they have faced hostility,” said the City of Kingston’s lawyer Will McDowell.
He argued paramedics and firefighters have faced the same hostility.
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While the number of available shelter beds in Kingston has increased, according to members of the unhoused community interviewed in the past, many encamped at Belle Park choose to stay there instead of going to a shelter.
Shelters often mean leaving most of their belongings unguarded outside. Pets are not welcome at some, and others don’t allow those staying there to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
There are also safety concerns in shelters for some vulnerable people.
However, the city’s lawyers argued that removing the people from Belle Park isn’t the same as removing them from a safe place.
McDowell pointed to rampant vandalism of the park and the area around it, describing the cost to repair hydro poles that were cut down this summer.
Submissions continue Tuesday, when representatives of the residents of the Belle Park encampment are expected to come to the courtroom to speak for themselves.
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