City discusses Hamilton’s encampment approach

The City of Hamilton’s encampment approach was a main topic of discussion at Wednesday’s general issues committee meeting.

Eight delegates spoke at Wednesday’s meeting, highlighting their concerns surrounding the city’s encampment pilot evaluation.

Jo Aitcheson is a volunteer at the Hamilton Encampment Support Network. She has seen the struggles the unhoused population face every day. She was also one of the delegates who spoke at today’s general issues committee meeting.

“Folks are getting frostbite. There has been two people I know who have gotten amputation. I’ve had a few people collapse from sleep deprivation because you can’t sleep in the warming centres,’ Aitcheson said.

Aitcheson urged the city to not follow the recommendations in item 10.18, which includes making the city’s encampment response pilot, permanent. It would call for housing experts, a parks supervisor, two bylaw officers, and two Hamilton police officers.

One delegate says, “investing in managers of housing, more policing, more surveillance, it’s not the way to go at all. This is not a response to the housing crisis, this is a response to encampments.”

Degelates say more housing is one of those solutions, “we have an approximate housing wait time in this city of three to nine years. Adding more housing workers and managers will not change that wait time for people.”

Although the city has been working towards finding a solution to this issue, Aitcheson says they need to be speaking with unhoused folks as well, “people who are a part of other organizations who work with unhoused individuals are suggesting that we sit at the table with unhoused individuals, and then ask them what’s best.”

The report by the city says there are 30 to 40 people living in encampments however, Aitcheson tells us she believes there are far more than that.