Common sense judge defends City of Hamilton's right to tear down homeless camp

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An Ontario Superior Court judge issued a ruling Monday that the City of Hamilton did not infringe upon the Charter rights of 14 homeless people who were evicted from local park encampments between 2021 and 2023. As Canadian jurisprudence on this issue seems tinged with judicial activism, and has often protected violent encampments at the public’s expense, this decision is an unexpected victory for common sense.  

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The applicants, of whom all except one were drug users, argued that their evictions violated their Section 7 Charter rights (“the right to life, liberty and security of the person”) and consequently sought $445,000 from the city in damages. 

In 2002, a B.C. Supreme Court case (“Victoria vs Adams”) interpreted Section 7 as granting homeless people a “right to shelter” under the justification that, without basic protection from the elements, individuals risk being exposed to life-threatening conditions. Since then, Canadian courts have prevented municipalities from evicting homeless camps unless it can be shown that enough local shelter spaces exist to provide alternative accommodations. 

More recently, some judges have argued that shelter beds only count if they are “low-barrier” and “accessible.” Critically, a 2023 Ontario Superior Court ruling barred the City of Waterloo from evicting encampments because the presiding judge, Justice Michael Valente, believed that shelters cannot be........

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