in part due to the winter timing for submitting its local figure, daher said windsor in january only added two “known encampments” to the amo figure. but that number “ebbs and flows,” he said, and the actual current number of windsor encampments could be 10 or more.
several municipalities have sought injunctions in order to deal with encampments, with mixed results, and it’s time for the province to provide some guidance on the issue, amo says.
kingston is one city that has turned to the courts, and mayor bryan paterson said it’s expensive, time consuming, divisive, and not a good solution.
“how do we navigate these competing interests, these challenging, complex social and health issues that we see, in a way that balances those off?” he said in an interview.
“we’re looking for the province to engage on this issue, to weigh into it, and to help municipalities with that balance.”
the municipalities are also asking the province for more help to provide the people who end up in encampments with housing and health-care supports. more supportive housing, for example, is urgently needed, municipalities say.
the deeply affordable housing includes on-site resources, such as for mental health and addictions, and ontario needs tens of thousands more units, amo says.