A group of municipal and regional councillors in Ontario have come together to speak out against the potential use of the Notwithstanding Clause to deal with homeless encampments.
It comes after more than a dozen mayors, including the mayors of Windsor, Chatham-Kent, Brampton and Barrie, signed a letter to Premier Doug Ford asking him to consider using the notwithstanding clause as cities across the province struggle with how to handle growing encampments.
A coalition of 41 councillors from 23 communities published a letter Monday, stating there is a need for "evidence-based solutions to the humanitarian crisis of homelessness and encampments in Ontario."
None of the councillors who signed the letter are from Southwestern Ontario.
When asked about the letter from the coalition, Windsor mayor Drew Dilkens was unaware of it, but firmly stood his position.
"I wouldn't have signed the letter if I didn't think there was a useful purpose to it. I was proud to sign the letter and I think when it comes to encampments, municipalities need all the tools available to be able to deal with these types of things."
The coalition letter also said the councillors reject any plans that do not respect the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
A January 2023 ruling by an Ontario Superior Court judge ruled that Waterloo Region could not use a municipal bylaw to evict people living in an encampment because it violated their rights.
Dilkens says if the province had intervened in the Waterloo case, we would be having a different conversation.
"We can't let courts decide how to deal with homelessness. And so what Waterloo basically said, that decision basically said, that as if you have a couple who wants to sleep together in the same room at a shelter, and that room's not available, you have to let them stay in a public park or in a public space. If a person who's homeless has pets, and you don't have a space to accommodate the pets, you have to let them sleep wherever they choose to sleep and set up their encampment."
When it comes to Windsor's encampment situation, Dilkens says the city is in a good position.
"It's not easy for people to hear that when they see one pop up near their backyard or in certain areas of the city, but when we compare ourselves to other municipalities in Ontario, we are light years ahead of what other cities are seeing. So I see, and I talk to other mayors in Ontario, I understand what they're going through, and what they're dealing with. I don't ever want to see that happen here."
Municipalities have been told unless they have available space in the shelter system, an encampment must remain in place.
Invoking the rarely used notwithstanding clause, or Section 33 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, would prevent a court from stepping in.
-With files from CTV News and AM800's Rusty Thomson