Leaders must embrace idea of `right to housing'
In a new report from Canada's first federal housing advocate, there's a phrase that sticks with me. Two years into her new job, Marie-josee Houle has completed a detailed review of homeless encampments across the country. Teeing up her final report, released Tuesday, the advocate describes our obligation to “people whose right to housing is being violated.”
It is a powerful way to frame the challenges of homelessness, and one our leaders would do well to embrace. This is not only a public health crisis, but a human rights violation. When we say housing is a human right, it means we — our institutions — bear a duty to protect it.
Informal settlements or tent cities have risen sharply during the last five years, with the squeeze on affordable housing. The advocate's report cites statistics estimating 20 to 25 per cent of people experiencing homelessness across Canada live in tent encampments, or as many as one in four. Encampments have become not only a staple of city life, but an increasingly visible reminder of homelessness in smaller towns and rural communities.
In many places, emergency shelters are non-existent or at capacity. Even when there are shelter beds available, some people stay away, wary of theft and violence. Others, who watched COVID outbreaks rip through nursing homes and shelters, have decided to take their chances sleeping rough.
The report calls for the implementation of a national encampments response plan, whose first task is to ensure people living in encampments have access to basic necessities such as clean water, food and health care. It also calls for an immediate end to forced evictions on public lands, which push traumatized people into even more precarious circumstances.
Houle's report acknowledges while encampments are not a safe or sustainable solution for people experiencing homelessness, they may be “the only option that meets their needs for safety, security and dignity.”
Her language stands in stark opposition to that of Toronto's former mayor, John Tory, who condemned encampments in city parks as “unsafe, unhealthy and illegal.” Tory's time at the city's helm was deeply marred in 2021 when he had people muscled out of tent encampments in Trinity Bellwoods, Alexandra Park and Lamport Stadium.
The evictions were co-ordinated by the Office of Emergency Management, despite the lack of any obvious emergency. There were no mental health supports on hand to help the people being displaced. There was, however, pepper spray for protesters trying to protect their rights, along with several dozen arrests.
The heavy-handed measures were roundly condemned. An investigation by Toronto's ombudsman, Kwame Addo, concluded the city had moved with unnecessary urgency to clear the parks, choosing “speed over people.”
It's certainly not the only municipal misstep dealing with encampments. In late November, St. John's, N.L., city council ordered the washrooms closed in Bannerman Park, citing vandalism. Encampment residents were left without sanitation for two days, until council reversed its decision under public pressure.
Although municipalities are on the front lines, the advocate acknowledges they're in a tight spot without the powers and resources to provide human-rights based services, and need more support: “This national crisis calls for a national response.” Houle has called for a national response plan to be implemented by Aug. 31.
Responding to reporters Tuesday, Housing Minister Sean Fraser said the federal government expects to present a suite of measures within that time frame, as part of a larger housing package. “I think it's a generational moral failure that there are people sleeping without a roof over their head in a country as wealthy as Canada,” he said.
A moral failure, and a human rights travesty.