On May the 6th, 2024, residents of a homeless encampment in Milligan’s Pond were served 24-hour eviction notices by the City of Barrie. The park has, for many years, been used as temporary respite as it is secluded, relatively safe, and close to downtown.

The difference this time is that on January 27, 2023, at the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, in the Ontario Superior Court, Justice Michael J Valente ruled in favour of homeless encampments being permitted to remain on public land. He also ordered that the rights of residents were protected under Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees life, liberty, and security of the person. That ruling overrides all city bylaws that ban encampments, and it greatly reduces the powers of bylaw enforcement and police officers who are ordered to evict the tent and hut dwelling residents. That ruling means that this attempt to evict, as undertaken by the City of Barrie, was unlawful.

The current Mayor and Council of Barrie have shown a strong desire to fix the issue of homelessness by blaming the victims, rather than by working to find a constructive solution. It was less than a year ago, in June of 2023, five months after the order of Justice Valente became legal precedent across Ontario, that the elected representatives of our municipality attempted to slip through without notice a Draconian bylaw that would see good Samaritans and caring groups punished for providing the unsheltered with food, money, clothing, and other necessities of life.

That clandestine attempt to bypass the Valente ruling and the wishes of local taxpayers was defeated by a public protest, which drew media attention and humiliation from across Ontario. It also divided the city, with groups like the Greater Barrie Chamber of Commerce supporting the proposed action, and people of good social conscience rallying against it.

The primary reason for the growing homeless population is eviction, which is a result of the high and rising cost of rent which is grossly out of proportion to the area’s income potential. That imbalance is an issue where the Mayor and Council should focus their resources instead of acting against the victims of the one-sided economic abuse of human rights.

Milligan’s Pond and other encampments provide the unsheltered community with a temporary hamlet in which they can work together to survive the winter using tents and makeshift huts. These evictions serve no purpose other than to harass and intimidate the poorest and most downtrodden members of our society. Without these encampments, each person is on their own, living on the streets of downtown Barrie, unprotected, vulnerable, exposed, and visible. Meanwhile, when living in the encampments, they have relative safety in numbers, they are mostly hidden from the easily ‘offended’ sector of our society, and they are easily accessible by charitable outreach programs and other services.

Sharable to all playforms from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4o5dQpFUi3Q

"This tent is a home, and is protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms" poster can be downloaded from https://www.fivepointsmedia.ca/pdf/This%20tent%20is%20a%20home.pdf

The ruling of Justice Michael J Valente - COURT FILE NO.: CV-22-717 can be downloaded from https://fivepointsmedia.ca/pdf/2023onsc670%20-%20Waterloo.pdf

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On Saturday, May 25, 2024, Ryan's Hope will be leading a City-Wide march to end homelessness. The march will start at the Spirit Catcher at 10:00 am and will end at around 1:00 pm at Heritage Park for a community picnic with our homeless friends. This is a great opportunity for our tax paying citizens to meet the people our Mayor and Council seem determined to villainize, and for those with questions to obtain answers both from Ryan's Hope advocates, and from those being most affected directly by the Draconian dictates of our elected municipal representatives. Your vote matters, as does your understanding of this situation that is not the fault of the victims.

March to End Homelessness
A multi-city, province-wide event.
Saturday, May 25, from 10:00am to 1:00pm
Please visit the event page at https://www.facebook.com/events/965757004903144,
or the Ryan's Hope Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ryanshopebarrie