City aims to remove encampment in Barrie park
Barrie bylaw officers issued a violation notice to an individual who had set up an encampment in the vicinity of Milligan's Pond on Monday.
CTV News obtained a copy of the notice, which notes that the individual broke the bylaw prohibiting camping in a public space without a permit and mandates that the individual address the matter within 24 hours.
"They gave me a notice thing saying I have 24 hours to pack up all my stuff and move," said Sasha, the woman who received the notice.
However, Jeff Schlemmer, the executive director of the Community Legal Clinic Of York Region, argues that such bylaws may not be lawful.
He explained that municipalities must be equipped to provide adequate accommodations to anyone evicted from public spaces.
"So it's far beyond just providing a shelter bed," said Schlemmer. "The courts have made it very clear in Ontario that the standard is that unless the municipality can provide all these things, then they cannot exclude people from public parks, and this issue was voted on last night in Sarnia, where the council had voted to shut down an encampment in a park. They agreed to hold off pending getting legal advice."
Christine Nayler, the co-founder of Ryan's Hope, has supported Sasha and the other people who have been at the encampment since September. She says eviction situations like this are extremely troubling.
"It's very traumatic for people that are already living in trauma modes, survival mode. Like they can't ever like make themselves a place where they feel comfortable, where they feel like this is my home now because they are always waiting for that you know notice to come."
In a statement to CTV News, the City of Barrie clarified the notice issued was not an eviction in light of recent court decisions.
The statement reads in part, "The Notice of Action Required is intended to identify the matters that are contrary to the city's bylaws."
In years past, Barrie police and bylaw officers ticketed and evicted Milligan's Pond residents. The city has received complaints from neighbouring residents/property owners concerning the debris and activities occurring in Milligan’s Park and Pond that are contrary to the city’s By-laws.
Earlier this week, a temporary shelter on Rose Street that housed roughly 40 people during the winter closed its doors for the summer months, leaving many with no where to turn.
The temporary shelter was in place to address the overflow situation plaguing local services.
With files from CTV's Dana Roberts.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
What weather experts say to expect this summer in Canada
Get ready to feel the heat, Canada. Weather experts are predicting more sunshine and warmer temperatures for the summer.
New COVID-19 subvariants become the dominant strains in Canada
More than four years after COVID-19 effectively shut down the world, two new variants of COVID-19 have become the dominant strains of the novel coronavirus in Canada.
Israel sends tanks into Rafah on raids amid Gaza-wide offensive
Israeli tanks mounted raids across Rafah in defiance of the World Court for a second day on Wednesday, after Washington said the assault did not amount to a major ground operation in the southern Gazan city that U.S. officials have warned Israel to avoid.
Tessa Virtue reveals she's expecting her first child. Here's what Canadians had to say
Canadian figure-skating icon Tessa Virtue is expecting her first child, she revealed via social media Tuesday.
Five more Ontario school boards join lawsuit against social media platforms
Five additional Ontario school boards and two independent private schools have joined a lawsuit against the owners of multiple social media platforms, including Snapchat, TikTok, and Facebook.
P.E.I. kiteboarder 'lucky to be alive' after shark attack in Turks and Caicos
A professional kiteboarder from P.E.I. says he has been seriously injured in a shark attack that occurred while he was snorkelling in the Turks and Caicos Islands last week.
'Unruly passenger' forces WestJet flight to make emergency landing in B.C.
A WestJet flight heading to Calgary had to make an emergency landing in northern B.C. Monday due to an incident involving an 'unruly passenger,' Mounties say.
In bizarre provocation, North Korea flies trash, manure balloons over the South
North Korea flew hundreds of balloons carrying trash and manure toward South Korea in one of its most bizarre provocations against its rival in years, prompting the South’s military to mobilize chemical and explosive response teams to recover objects and debris in different parts of the country.
Introducing peanut butter during infancy can help protect against a peanut allergy later on, new study finds
New evidence suggests that feeding children smooth peanut butter during infancy and early childhood can help reduce their risk of developing a peanut allergy even years later.