'We are hoping and expecting that trespassing laws will be upheld': Debate over homeless encampments on private and public property 

CAMBRIDGE -

Homelessness in Waterloo Region is at an all time high and the debate of how tent cities should be handled has become a heated one.

Police Chief Bryan Larkin says his members “intercept with these citizens every single day,” referring to those who live in the encampments and those who call police about them.

In Waterloo Region, some private properties are feeling the impact of unwelcome encampments.

J&S Property Management Owner, Simon Weresch, says many of the vacant lots he takes care of have reoccurring encampments and over time it has cost him a lot of money, and a lot of stress.

“We’ve had tents catching on fire, damage to property, waste removal,” he said.

Weresch described some of the unwelcome guests as extremely hard to deal with, stating he receives threats when asking them to leave and constantly finds drug paraphernalia.

 “I’ve chatted with a lot of these people myself, and a lot of these people don’t fit the frame work of the shelter system,” he added.

He added they tell him they don’t feel comfortable at a shelter, have a pet or a significant other.

Weresch claims the owners of a vacant Galt property he manages pay roughly $50,000 on property taxes and he’s upset because he feels tax payers are having to deal with much of the issues themselves.

He wrote an open letter to Chief Bryan Larkin on Nov. 29, asking why the current encampment wasn’t being removed despite being reported.

In the letter he stated that a previous encampment on the same property back in the spring of 2021 included 15-20 tents.

Larkin did respond to Weresch’s email the next day, stating in part, that homelessness is a complicated issue, and that a specialized team will reach out to him shortly.

“We have to work to make sure all the legalities are followed,” Larkin told CTV Kitchener.

He went on to explain the questions police must ask property owners, “Have you served notice? Have you asked the individual to leave? If they refuse, then we have different powers under the trespass to property act.”

Larkin added that a private property owner has to ask the person to leave in front of an officer as well.

“But because somebody calls us and says we want somebody out it doesn’t necessarily work that way,” Larkin said.

Larkin says each scenario is unique, and in this specific situation, police considered the fact that this was a vacant lot and not a residential backyard.

“The emergency to me was that this individual does not have a place to live, not that they were on somebody’s property,” Larkin added.

Weresch said said he's frustrated with the number of times he has been through this scenario.

“We are hoping and expecting that trespassing laws will be upheld,” he said.

Though, he went on to acknowledge these issues are an example of an even large one.

“That said, we’re definitely not unsympathetic to the homeless problem. It just seems like a disjointed approach,” Weresch added.

Meanwhile, a petition has been started to stop the removal of encampments from public property, after footage of a front end loader recently removing tents, upset a number of Waterloo region residents.

Jude Oudshoorn, who is also a professor of social services, started the petition.

“Imagine being that person where you don’t have a home, all you can do is make some makeshift shelter for yourself and then along comes the region and they kick you out of the neighbourhood and then you have to play find another place to hide,” Oudshoorn said.

Oudshoorn says he plans to delegate to regional council and ask that for less money to be given to police and instead more money be used to focus on long term housing a rehabilitating solutions for those experiencing homelessness.

Larkin acknowledged the community is divided.

“Our intent is to funnel all these calls for service and this call for demand to our Community Engagement and Wellbeing Unit that is very much developed to all of the stack holders," he said, adding he wants “to make sure that we take an appropriate approach.”

The Region of Waterloo says it is undertaking a complete process review of their encampment policy. Larkin says he will ask that it include encouraging residents to call 311 instead of 911.

“If we want a different approach, the police service shouldn’t be the first phone call,” Larkin said.

Larkin also says his officers did attended the property Weresch manages this weekend and did help to the one person who was in a tent there at the time. According to Larkin, his officers used compassion to relocate the person and no ticket was issued.

Weresch and business owners who surround the vacant lot in Cambridge still worry about when the next encampment will arrive. Stating the warm weather will likely bring the population back, as it has in the past.