‘911 Is for Emergencies Only,’ Local Police Remind Residents
Police in Chatham-Kent, Ontario, are urging the public to refrain from calling 911 to report people camping on municipal land.
They have frequently received calls regarding persons camped out on the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) property on Grand Avenue. It’s gotten to the point where they’ve had to put out a statement saying, “The Chatham-Kent Police Service is aware of the presence of unhoused individuals choosing to shelter at the PUC property, which is municipally-owned and is within the guidelines of the municipality’s encampment protocol,” and reminding local residents that 911 is intended to be used for emergencies only.
No Adequate Alternatives
In contrast to the cruel ramp-up in criminalization efforts we’re seeing in the states after the Grants Pass decision, Canadian municipalities are still held to the common-sense rule of not evicting homeless residents from their encampments unless there exists an adequate and accessible accommodation that they could move to.
Chatham-Kent’s policy explicitly recognizes that encampment sweeps can cause vulnerable people unnecessary hardship and trauma and do not ultimately solve the problem, only move it. For these reasons, it’s stated that encampment removal should only be used as a last resort.
This seems like the bare minimum of protections, but the United States Supreme Court has taken that low bar as a limbo challenge and bent over backwards to get under it.
Since Chatham-Kent’s emergency shelter was consistently operating at 99% capacity throughout 2024, it’s safe to say there are not enough beds available in town to relocate everyone from the encampment. To put it in raw numbers, that shelter has 44 beds total, and the number of unhoused people in Chatham-Kent is estimated to be at least 200. These facts don’t seem to stop the NIMBYs from calling.
Policies, Protections, and Exceptions
There are exceptions to this protection, of course. Encampments may be dispersed without adequate shelter if hazardous conditions or activities within the encampment pose a threat to the safety of encampment residents and members of the wider community.
They must also maintain a reasonable level of cleanliness, ensure that all tents and other structures are freestanding and not set up within 2 meters of each other for fire safety purposes, and there is a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to violence or crime.
Encampments are also forbidden within the following locations:
- On or within 100 metres of municipal playgrounds, water parks, splash pads, beaches, or sports fields.
- On or within 100 metres of any elementary school, childcare facility, assisted living facility, or other health or social services facility providing support or care services to youth or vulnerable populations.
- Within 10 metres of any private property line.
- On or under bridges.
- On or within five metres of sidewalks or pedestrian paths.
- On or within 25 metres of any cemetery.
- On or within five metres of an off-leash dog area.
- On or within five metres of any community garden.
- In any actively used parking lot.
- In or on any public-use building or structure.
- In areas that block the free movement of another person on a street, public pathway, sidewalk, or other path of public travel.
- On municipal land where individuals have a private easement or ownership interest, or where the municipality owes a duty to maintain the land to the benefit or partial benefit of private individuals (i.e., beach access).
- On municipal lands in areas obstructing construction or maintenance activities.
If these conditions are not met, the encampment that is not in compliance will be “prioritized for relocation.” The policy goes on to state that, “in all cases where enforcement occurs, the Municipality will give reasonable notice to encampment residents of intended enforcement steps and will work with encampment residents to support them in transitioning to better and safer shelter/housing options.”
Recent Removals
In July, the last exception came into effect when the city needed to complete some slope stabilization work along the banks of the Thames River, where a large encampment was located.
The construction project is being funded by federal dollars, and along with that funding comes a mandated timeframe that requires work to begin this fall. Currently, outreach workers are working to relocate 40 to 50 unhoused residents of the riverside encampment. This can include directing people to services as they are available. However, for most residents, it will likely point people toward another unsheltered camping site that meets regulations, such as the PUC site.
The task of finding a suitable site that meets all of the above requirements has been a source of confusion both for people being asked to relocate and the authorities that are tasked with helping them do so.
Perhaps seeing this encampment clearance emboldened NIMBYs to try and exercise their entitlement in other areas of the city, or perhaps they don’t need a reason to call the police to report people existing.
Tiny Transitions in the Works
Recognizing their desperate need for additional housing for their rising unhoused population, the Chatham-Kent council approved a tiny cabin transitional housing project in April of 2024. Once complete, this project will provide temporary, transitional housing in the form of 50 tiny, 8-by-10-foot cabins with a bed, desk, fridge, and microwave each. Larger kitchen facilities, living space, and bathrooms will be communal, with “security support staff” on-site. Residents won’t be required to share their cabin with strangers, but they will be allowed to live with spouses or pets if they choose.
The completion of this project will more than double the city’s total number of beds—a significant improvement, but still well short of the 200+ that are needed. And that’s just talking about emergency stopgap measures.
To get these people into permanent housing will require an even larger investment of time and money—something that we’ve seen delayed in other cities as resources are diverted toward temporary solutions.
Josh Myers, director of housing services in Chatham-Kent is aware of these challenges, saying, “We’ll be working with the individual to see what they need [and] working to provide those skills and services, but all the while looking to see what [we can] secure in the private market, because we do also have to turn these units over. The need will far outweigh 50 cabins.”