This article was previously published on GuelphToday.
The tent encampment in St. George’s Square where people had been living for several months was removed earlier today.
This comes after the city passed a public space use bylaw at the beginning of October. An eviction notice was posted at the encampment two weeks ago which gave people two weeks to leave. Today was that deadline.
Danielle, who wanted to use her first name due to safety concerns, was living at the encampment for a couple of months. She got a call from Dani O’Connell, a housing outreach worker for Stepping Stone, this morning telling her the encampment was being taken down and to come down if she wanted any of her belongings that were still in her tent. The possessions she is keeping are in storage.
“That was annoying, because there's nowhere really for us to go, right? And there's people with really bad addictions that are getting pushed out of the public, and there's going to be more overdoses now with the medical centre … the safe supply closing. It's going to affect a lot of people,” said Danielle.
People don’t know where they will be going tonight but some will go to shelters and others will be staying outside, she said.
She said some people in encampments are treated differently than other people and even people who live in shelters are treated differently too. “Some people can't go to the shelter, can't access it, but there's others that can,” said Danielle.
With two deaths at the encampment on Friday it’s going to continue to be devastating, she continued. “We're going to see a lot more of it come the colder months, because they're going to be out in the middle of nowhere, right?”
Danielle has been living in a shelter with her dog Lexi. She’s the first dog to have lived at the shelter who wasn’t a service dog, said O’Connell.
O’Connell came to St. George’s Square at 10:30 a.m. and was shocked to see the encampment structures being taken down thinking that the time people had to be out was 4 p.m. People’s items are being kept in a work van for the time being and then the items will be put in a storage facility, said O’Connell.
People have been pretty good about coming to shelters, looking for housing and moving forward, O’Connell continued.
“As of today, the majority of individuals that were in St. George’s Square have voluntarily relocated to other locations or to an available shelter space," said deputy CAO Colleen Clack-Bush via email.
"In an effort to respect the privacy of these individuals, we cannot provide information on specific details. Our bylaw staff along with social service partners are actively assisting any individuals who remain there at this time and are dialoguing with any impacted individuals to ensure they are informed of available supports and where they could relocate to.
"With respect to non-compliance, staff have not directly encountered any. In the coming days, city staff will proceed with the removal of shelters that haven’t yet been removed by the owner. Bylaw staff will continue working with our social service partners to coordinate pick-up of removed items," she continued in the email.
