Canada’s federal housing advocate is reiterating her call for a prohibition on forced evictions from encampments after federal funding “to address” homelessness didn’t include an emphasis on human rights-based approaches.
In a statement issued Friday, Marie-Josée Houle stressed the importance of providing clear guidelines on what constitutes a “human rights-based approach to encampments,” arguing that funding should be directed accordingly.
“My report recognized that encampments should not be seen as a solution,” she said. “At the same time, it reminded governments that forcibly evicting people living in encampments is a violation of international human rights law and it causes more harm.”
Houle urged the feds to place a moratorium on forced evictions on federal lands and prohibit the use of new program funds to support forced evictions and other “police-led responses.”
“The agreements negotiated between the federal government and the provinces and territories must include minimum human rights standards and must be made public,” she said.
The funding in question is $250 million, announced in September, to be used to address encampments and unsheltered homelessness. The feds say they expect funding to be cost-matched by provinces and territories to “provide more shelter spaces, transitional homes, and services to help those in encampments find housing.”
The statement also comes as Ontario Big City Mayors debate a motion calling for legislative changes to allow for a "system of mandatory community-based and residential mental health and addictions treatment" in response to increasing homeless encampments.
Houle says a human rights-based approach to encampments should include measures to protect the life, dignity and human rights of the people living there, in addition to a repeal of by-laws contributing to the “criminalization and insecurity of encampment residents.”
She also calls for an end to “practices like coercive ‘clean up’ actions, including the confiscation of belongings that people need to survive and live in dignity.”
