As a First Nations member in the Thunder Bay community, I am appalled by the callous rhetoric put forward during this week’s deliberations on how to address homeless encampments in the McVicar Creek area by citizens and City Council.
Mayor Ken Boshcoff noted that many of the tents are “kind of fancy” and “rather expensive.” Councillor Rajni Agarwal suggested that “thorny bushes” or a “bee habitat” could be used to discourage these encampments. Other Councillors focused on the impact on the natural landscape and the rights of property owners, ignoring the basic human rights denied to these vulnerable members of our community.
This commentary is deeply troubling.
In the past two years, community organizations and city staff have raised the alarm about vandalism and violence against local homeless encampments and vulnerable people. And the violence from members of the public has only worsened.
We are living in a housing crisis, and basic needs are not being met. In Nishnawbe Aski Nation territory alone more than 7,500 housing units are currently needed, and the demand is growing. Our First Nations members are being forcefully displaced from their own communities because of chronic underfunding leading to lack of housing and access to health and social services.
I acknowledge that city administrators have helped make considerable progress working with local organizations, but I take issue with some of Council’s responses. In the past, they have authorized the construction of fencing to stop people from taking shelter at an abandoned gas station, the cutting down of trees to prevent people from finding shade, and the installation of inhumane anti-homelessness barriers (known as ‘hostile architecture’) to prevent homeless individuals from resting in public spaces.
Housing is a human right for all Canadians. It is also a Treaty right. We have to do better as a society to not only help those in need, but to treat them with common decency and dignity. I believe that safe and dignified solutions can be developed if we all approach these issues in a thoughtful and compassionate way.
I raised the issue of violence against vulnerable people during a meeting with the Mayor last month. I suggested solutions based on the advice of many peer support workers and those with lived experience. One proposal is for the city to designate a piece of land as a safe site for these encampments, which could also be used for housing supports, health services, and land-based healing initiatives. Safe encampments provide a compassionate and practical solution to the issue of homelessness, and we should embrace them as part of a comprehensive approach to addressing this important issue.
I implore members of Council and all community members to see these encampments as symptoms of much larger problems. To change this rhetoric, Council should focus on: 1) understanding how to protect and serve our most underserved populations; 2) taking action now instead of waiting for others to act; and 3) standing with local organizations and vulnerable people to secure additional funding and resources from upper levels of government.
Makeshift encampments are absolutely unacceptable, and the fact that they provide only a pitifully minimum standard of shelter for people with nowhere else to turn is an outrage. It is a tragic failure that so many individuals are forced to live in such conditions.
As a community, we must find ways to stand together and support them.
Anna Betty Achneepineskum is a Deputy Grand Chief of Nishnawbe Aski Nation, which represents 49 First Nations in Treaty No. 9 and the Ontario portion of Treaty No. 5.
