Two more Guelph city councillors have joined a small but growing group of elected officials throughout the province opposed to use of the notwithstanding clause to allow municipalities to remove encampments without facing the possibility of legal consequences.
Mayor Cam Guthrie is among 15 mayors who, last month, signed a joint letter calling on Premier Doug Ford to protect municipalities that remove encampments from court challenges under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms by using the notwithstanding clause to shield them.
In response, 41 municipal and regional councillors from across Ontario penned a letter asking Ford to instead look for “evidence-based solutions to the humanitarian crisis of homelessness and encampments in Ontario."
Coun. Erin Caton was among that initial group, with councillors Phil Allt and Leanne Caron adding their names. The list is now up to 72 signees from 31 of 444 Ontario municipalities.
“No municipality should be above the law, and we are sworn to uphold democracy and human rights as councillors,” the letter reads.
It added concern that councillors in several municipalities, including Guelph, were not consulted before the mayors’ letter was made public on Oct. 31.
