Homeless encampment dismantled at Millennium Park in downtown Peterborough

The latest tent encampment in Peterborough, Ont., had a short-lived stay after being removed on Thursday.

A day earlier there were about 10 tents pitched at Millennium Park in the city’s downtown. But by Thursday morning, bulldozers were on the scene removing the last of the belongings.

By 11 a.m. city staff and police had cleared the site.

A man identified as Ray told Global News videographer Robert Lothian that he and others living in the park didn’t deserve the abrupt exit. He says he has been experiencing homelessness for the past two and a half years.

“I was actually told by my one friend that they physically took his tent — took his stuff — you know what I mean,” he said. “They didn’t just tell him to move, they took it. I don’t think that’s proper. I think they should have given him a time limit and let him do his own thing.”

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Another individual who said he was staying at Millennium Park claimed officials woke him up and provided just 20 minutes to clear his belongings.

As cleanup continued, nearby elected officials gathered at another section of the park for the annual general meeting of Community Futures Peterborough which supports small business.

Peterborough Mayor Jeff Leal, who was at the AGM, acknowledge he was advised of the park clearing.

“Public parks need to be accessible for the broad general public and they’ve got to make sure they can access these parks in a very safe manner,” he told Global News.

A statement from the city on Thursday stated enforcement of its tenting bylaw is “ongoing.”

“Enforcement of the parks and facilities bylaw is an ongoing effort. Tenting is unsafe, unhealthy and unsuitable.”

In August 2019, the city passed a bylaw that requires an individual to have a permit to erect or be within a “structure, hut or tent” on municipal property including the city’s 100-plus parks. The bylaw was in response to dozens of tents that first appeared in Victoria Park downtown – land owned by Peterborough County. The County also passed its own similar bylaws that month.

However, encampments continue to return in the city, most notably along Wolfe Street where dozens of tents remain in the parking lot of the city’s emergency overflow shelter. Earlier this month a fatal shooting occurred at the encampment, however, police said the victim and the accused shooter did not reside at the encampment.

The city did not respond to follow-up inquiries about the Wolfe Street encampment. In May city council approved installing temporary modular housing units as a short-term solution to assist the homeless.

A city staff report in mid-April noted there were 302 individuals on the city’s by-name priority list (BNPL), a real-time list of all people experiencing homelessness in the city. More than half on the list (161) are chronically experiencing homelessness, which means being homeless for at least six months within the last year (and not necessarily consecutive months).

Some advocates, including Elizabeth Dell who often delivers food to those experiencing homelessness, say the city’s approach remains “inadequate.”

“This was not a solution, like coming and destroying people’s tents and just telling them to move— that’s not a solution,” she said of the Millennium Park clearing.

Dell says in addition to housing, there’s a need for food security and rehabilitation programs.

“We cannot complain about there being garbage or about people ‘trespassing’ when we don’t provide adequate housing,” she said. “It must become a top priority for this city.”

— with files from Robert Lothian, Global News Peterborough

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