Second Encampment

Back in June I made a post about a homeless encampment that had been developed on an empty field near the train station. They were issued an eviction notice for the end of the month, but the city has extended their notice on a monthly basis since then. They have port-o-potties now, I don't know if the city provided them. There are sunflower blossoms at the there right now, it looks really nice.

My position was in favour of the residents of the tent city. I said that in my view they are less dangerous not more when they are working collaboratively inside a community and have a reputation to preserve, and that the move to evict them wouldn't decrease the number of homeless, just divide them into small enough factions that the people complaining would be able to ignore the issue. My only reservation was that if we considered these living accommodation satisfactory, it might lead to complacency when I believe that all human beings deserve access to running water, heat and electricity.

Since then, a second encampment has developed in Kitchener's Victoria Park. Initially it was stated that it was in protest to the move to evict the train station tent city, however over time it became clear that the protest was at least doubling in purpose as another place of residency for our homeless.

The camp is set on Roos Island, a piece of land that branches into a wide river that flows through the park. It connects on one side by a bridge and on the other by a strip of land. There is a gazebo in the centre on which they have mounted a list of demands. They are as follows:

1. Stop evicting campers on city region land
2. No more police at overdose emergency calls
3. Stop ALL drug related arrests
4. Decriminalize ALL drugs and expand Safe Supply by 50%
5. Stop increasing the police budget
6. Use vacant properties in the downtown core for low-income housing
7. Provide low-income housing at 10% of income
8. Create space for housing alternatives in DTK
9. Create 1000 new low-income housing units in the downtown core
10. Stop CAS child abductions from Indigenous, Black, and low-income families
11. Sign over ownership of the bus terminal to the Indigenous Community
12. Formerly rename Willow River Park
13. Remove all colonial statues from the region; starting with Willow River Park 

I don't know what the process was like to come up with this list or if there's full consensus. They seem to be presenting themselves as strongly associated with the Indigenous population, but I've no idea what percentage of them have ancestry. Apparently a group called Fightback KW initiated this movement on Canada Day and has been supplying residents with many basic necessities. A local activist named Julian Ichim has been an outspoken representative on behalf of the tent city.

To clarify some of the demands, the call to rename the park is because the current name, Victoria Park, is based on Queen Victoria, whose rule oversaw expansion of the British Empire into what we now know as Canada. The idea is that having a park named after this woman celebrates the suppression of the Indigenous People. Similarly, the call to remove colonial statues is inspired at least in part by the big statue of Queen Victoria across the river from the tent city. After the discovery of the bodies of Indigenous children under former residential schools, red paint was splashed onto this statue representing the blood of these children. It was left up for awhile, and when the city eventually cleaned it up they put a plaque in front of the statue explaining its controversial nature.

The bus terminal they're talking about is Charles Street Terminal, the former centre for Kitchener transit. It got closed when they introduced the ION lightrail, and now we don't have anything like it, just a small transit office connected to a hotel. Since the terminal's been closed, it's been used as a homeless outreach centre during the initial lockdowns, and later a COVID testing site. Otherwise I think it's just a break area for ION security workers. I don't know why the Indigenous community would want this building, it's nothing special.

Reception to the train station encampment was divisive, and the Roos Island encampment has been received more negatively. That being said, it hasn't stopped people from going to the park and enjoying it, so far as I can tell. The playground still always looks full, there's always a lineup by the sausage vendor and ice cream truck, and I think every time I've gone, I see wedding photos being taken. 

People walk through the tent city. I've walked through the tent city, no big deal. So I still think people talking about safety concerns are playing it up. I will admit that I feel a slightly higher level of tension in the Roos Island tent city than the train station encampment, and that may be because the people of Roos Island are intentionally challenging the city by occupying land they understand is considered valuable.

I must admit, I think their demands seem a little lofty. Protesting encampment evictions and demanding an increase in affordable housing make sense, as these are driving our current housing crisis. Demanding a name change to the park and the removal of colonial imagery makes sense, because it concerns the space they are currently occupying. 

I understand that laws regarding drugs are a concern for some of their residents, I don't think the city has the power to decriminalize all drugs anyway. Affordable housing at 10% of income sounds like a challenge, I don't think I've ever had housing at that price even before the current market. I don't know why they want a bus terminal.

And while I believe that people with addictions should be valued and treated with dignity and that harm-reduction methods are more effective than prohibition, there is a lot of stigma around homeless people and the Indigenous community, and this strong emphasis on drug use in relation to these populations could bolster stereotypes.

The original encampment was developed by the homeless community, whereas this second one was developed by homed activists who brought in residents with the offer of resources. I worry a little about their being a coercive element. People will allow themselves to be represented by your message if you're willing to offer them something. Also, I hope that they do have Indigenous representation, and they're not just using a popular movement to give themselves credibility. 

If I were an activist working alongside the homeless population, I think I would want to provide them with resources and make sure that any relevant demographic within them was represented, so I'm not accusing the organizers of wrongdoing, but with this current setup it looks to me like there's room for exploitation due to an imbalance of power between the organizers and residents. So I hope everyone is collaborating.

The city says that it doesn't plan on making moves to evict based on their belief that people will move out once it gets colder. I suppose they believe the same for the train station encampment. I don't really see where they think people will move to, though.