Local policy in place to clear encampments, offer supports

A local policy is in place to address encampments located on unauthorized land, according to a report received during the recent board meeting of the District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board.

According to DNSSAB's Director of Housing Stacey Cyopeck, the "unsheltered table" — a group of stakeholder organizations that play roles in the community's approach to homelessness and encampments — was formed last summer after safety concerns about the practice were raised.

The board heard that table met again in March in anticipation of the approaching encampment season. The land authorities, police, public health, and outreach agencies were invited to participate and organizations such as the North Bay–Mattawa Conservation Authority (NBMCA), the City of North Bay, Canadian Mental Health Association North Bay and District (CMHA NBD), the AIDS Committee of North Bay and Area, North Bay Fire and Emergency Services, and the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit accepted.

Coun. Scott Robertson, a board member, acknowledged progress had been made and the policy had evolved but admitted he was "hoping for something a little bolder and innovative with how we deal with encampments, specifically with a focus on harm reduction and, mainly, for the folks who live in these encampments who are vulnerable to violence, sexual violence, theft, and overdose."

Coun. Mark King, the board chair, later added "Crown lands in the surrounding areas are available where you can camp for 21 days," but there is a sense in the community that there are "professional troublemakers in the city who may have places to live but, at the same time, want to be able to camp on the waterfront. Well, that just doesn't work."

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By evolving the model utilized in recent years for encampments by the CMHA NBD, NBMCA, and the City, "The goal was to build on that further and include a response that could be used district-wide," Cyopeck told the DNSSAB board members and staff.

"The group identified specifically where encampments are not permitted in the district and also determined how encampments would be identified, tracked, and have the occupants supported through coordinated access, the by-name list, and case conferencing," Cyopeck added. Steps have been laid out through the policy by which land authorities "can connect individuals in the encampment with community agencies once they've identified that an encampment exists."

Timelines to abandon the encampment will then be relayed to the inhabitants by the agency's staff members, and options for shelter and appropriate services will be offered.

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The policy itself does not originate with DNSSAB and was solely brought to the social services board meeting for informational purposes. The outreach programs from CMHA NBD and True Self–North Bay are not funded by DNSSAB and are the local leads.

The unsheltered table, Cyopeck advises, "will continue to meet, as far as this protocol, and as it evolves, and continue to plan their responses, as well as alternative locations, services, and supports for the individuals and/or households that continue to reside outside."

Board member and West Nipissing Coun. Dan Roveda clarified the DNSSAB would not play an enforcement role in the dispersal of an encampment but would rather be involved in supporting those living rough, and Cyopeck agreed.

"The unsheltered response group doesn't enforce closures of the encampments, that is left to the authorities," Cyopeck affirmed. "For example, if it was NBMCA land, they identify the encampment, they set the timeline for the encampment to be removed. The outreach workers will go in and have that conversation and notify them of the need to move based on the timeline provided, and support them in doing that by moving on to shelter or housing."

However, Cyopeck added, "If there is an unwillingness to leave the property, it is up to the [land authority] to have them removed," by police.

Board member Coun. Chris Mayne noted the policy had proven effective in breaking up an encampment along Lake Nipissing near Jet Avenue and 10th Street last summer.

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"As DNSSAB, our role is to offer services, to offer alternatives," said Mayne. "After a month or six weeks, we were able to find safer, more appropriate accommodations for them."

Mayne wondered whether an assigned camping area with services available had been considered. Cyopeck responded some other areas had attempted such an endeavour but had met with "significant challenges," such as violence, safety, and cost.

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King added, "It's an excellent report and North Bay city councillors probably need to weigh in on this with respect to responsibility to protecting neighbourhoods."

Robertson noted the discontent with the encampments is growing in the community at large. "We've seen other approaches taken in other communities," he said. "No approach to the encampment issue has been fully successful in any other region, that I'm aware of.

"It's about the alternative. It's about reducing harm on the wider community, in particular those living in encampments."