Where is the plan on encampments?

It is beginning to appear as if this version of Hamilton city council has no more of a clue on how to deal with homeless encampments than the last version. That’s disappointing.

What happened to doing local government differently? What happened to the advertised political will to deal with problems, rather than kick them down the road? We have ample handwringing, but little to no action.

We do know some things this council does not like.

It doesn’t like the Hamilton Alliance for Tiny Shelters pilot program providing secure shelter for a part of the homeless population now living in tents. Why is not entirely clear, other than most councillors don’t want the pilot project in their ward.

Many if not most councillors don’t like the idea of so-called “sanctioned” encampment sites, where officially designated sites following guidelines on size, distance from public amenities and other limits would offer a degree of stability and make it easier for outreach workers to support encampment residents. Council hasn’t ruled that staff recommendation out, yet, but instead has kicked the can down the road, pending feedback from the public. Gee, what might the public say about the potential of a sanctioned site in their neighbourhood?

Council also apparently doesn’t like tents on city hall or adjacent property, since eviction orders have been issued to homeless residents now living in tents behind city hall and near the Whitehern historic site. It is worth noting that not all councillors support forcing people to leave, and granted, these encampments have drawn public and city staff complaints, and there have been incidents of violence.

But now that the residents are being forced to move, where are they supposed to go? Lower city parks? Wooded areas? What makes those options more appealing? Will neighbourhood pushback simply result in the homeless being compelled to move, again? And again?

Council doesn’t like the fact that the provincial government isn’t doing nearly enough to help with these challenges. Yes, the province and Ottawa should be doing a lot more to help with the immediate crisis. Longer-term housing strategies, such as the one the feds put forward, are fine, but they do little or nothing to get at the immediate pressing need. Councillors’ frustration is fully understandable, but frustration and condemnation won’t accomplish much without action.

There is no magic bullet here. No single great big solution. There are only incremental steps that could make a difference. Tiny shelters, sanctioned sites, perhaps even a registry of folks willing to take in homeless people (although that well-intentioned step is unlikely to go anywhere meaningful and isn’t very practical).

Secure, stable, affordable housing is the objective, of course. But we’re not close to it at this point, and in the meantime tent encampments aren’t going anywhere. Where is the plan to reflect that reality?