Roughly 40 protesters gathered at the steps of the Basilica of Our Lady Immaculate this morning to voice their opposition to the proposed public space use bylaw before marching into city hall.
They chanted phrases like “hands off tents” and “show some love this Valentine’s Day, don’t take the tents away,” while flashing their signs at rush hour traffic driving by, then marched into city hall ahead of the 10 a.m. special council meeting to discuss the bylaw.
Inside, they were told by security to leave their signs at the door. They chanted, clapped, and stomped, gave speeches before heading into the gallery for the meeting, which had more than 40 delegates scheduled to speak.
The proposed bylaw would implement a number of rules for the use of parks, public squares, sidewalks, trails and other municipally owned and operated lands in an effort to address public safety, Coun. Rodrigo Goller said in an earlier interview with GuelphToday.
Among the series of rules under the bylaw, encampments in spaces with competing public use would only be permitted at night, meaning tents and belongings would need to be packed up and removed during daylight hours. They would be prohibited entirely in ‘sensitive public spaces’ like recreational trails and fountains.
Organizer Kate Nixon said the reason for the protest was to show opposition to the bylaw, the language used in it and the stigma it drummed up on the topic, while also showing support for those living in tents.
"These are our neighbours and we care about them," she said.
Bee Kent and Mars Russell said their reason for being there was simple: “housing is a human right.”
“Most of us are one paycheque away from not having a house than I think we ever want to admit. And we just had the big eviction in 90 Carden,” Russell said. “The next step isn’t to displace people even more.”
“There’s no plan in place,” Kent said.
Nick Edmends and Laura Vanpatter said it’s important for them to show their children “that criminalizing people who have a lack of access to resources and rights like housing” goes against their values.
“We need to hopefully convince council that (the bylaw is a) completely inappropriate response,” Vanpatter said.
Gilles Stephany, who lives downtown, said “it’s really inhumane to tell people that they can’t camp during the day.”
“It’s a really absurd way to keep them out of view,” Stephany said. “The whole (bylaw) is like putting a carpet over black mould.”
“There have been court rulings recently that you can’t just kick people out of the tents. This seems like a way to try and bypass, ‘we’re not kicking them out, we’re just making them pack them up every day.’ That’s ridiculous,” said Kevin, another protester.
“We need to build houses, not get rid of people who can’t afford them,” he said.
Kim Richer, one of the delegates with lived experience, came by the protest to show her support before heading into the meeting.
Richer said she feels the bylaw itself “causes stigma, discrimination. It’s not supportive of all our citizens.”
“The bylaw is not a solution,” she said, adding that a “one-size fits all shelter system is not working” either.
“We need more options,” she said.
If later approved at council's Feb. 27 meeting, the bylaw could come into effect as early as March 1.
