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“Why are we seeing such a dramatic increase in the number of people living in encampments?”

Whether you drive, ride a bike or just cross a street, you’ll have noticed that roads in the older city are falling apart.  This Ward 1 letter will focus on some of the factors that have collided to create this bumpy ride. 

Dear residents of Ward 1

In a previous letter to Ward 1 residents, I set out my position on the City’s abrupt decision to end the encampment protocol: https://www.maureenwilson.ca/encampments0921. The protocol was an agreement arrived at by the City of Hamilton and various health, housing and justice agencies to guide the municipality’s response to encampments. It was a housing-first approach. It set a time limit of fourteen days for tents to be in a City park and placed a cap on the number of tents permitted in any one place. It assessed the mental acuity of encamped persons. It also prohibited encampments in certain places such as near schools. I regret that City staff were not able to meet with their protocol partners to negotiate any amendments considered necessary before being instructed to terminate the agreement. As a result of Council’s decision, the Hamilton Police Service has been formally inserted into the City’s response to homelessness.   

Dear Ward 1 residents

The purpose of this post is to account for my vote this past Friday, November 12, 2021, at a special meeting of Hamilton City Council to fill the ward 5 seat left vacant with the election of Chad Collins as a federal Liberal MP for Hamilton East- Stoney Creek. Mr Collins served as ward 5 Hamilton City Councillor for 26 years (1995-2021).

Encampments are outside spaces where residents are living temporarily in tents or other makeshift arrangements. I have written about encampments in a previous letter to Ward 1 residents. 

The purpose of this Ward 1 letter is to account for my vote at the August 9, 2021, special meeting of Hamilton City Council, which concluded with the City's cancellation of the Encampment Response Protocol.  

The City of Hamilton will launch an electric scooter rental program next spring. The project will run for 24 months as a pilot to allow the City to assess operations and safety features. The City will partner with the private sector, and all capital and operating costs will be the responsibility of the selected commercial operators.  

Earlier this month, Hamilton’s Board of Health received an update on the city’s COVID-19 case count along with a forecast for COVID-19 conditions to December 2021.  As reported in the news, there has been an increase in COVID-19 cases in Hamilton.  In addition, the number of Hamiltonians who are fully vaccinated is below the provincial average.  The re-opening of Hamilton and Ontario will result in increases in contact transmission. This situation, combined with a highly contagious Delta variant currently active in 95% of Hamilton COVID-19 cases, poses significant risks to the unvaccinated, including children under age 12, for whom there is no vaccination available, and the under-vaccinated.  Individuals with only single-dose are under-vaccinated. 

Any 4^th wave will primarily be among those not vaccinated, including children under 12 years old and those under-vaccinated. 

Wards 1 and 8 Councillors call for the pilot to proceed

Fear of the unknown is a useful evolutionary tactic to avoid getting eaten. But it needs to be tempered with reason, experience and imagination, or else we remain stuck in place and miss opportunities to thrive.