Page 8 – A Humanistic Way to Deal With Tent Encampments, Homelessness and Housing Shortages
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Compassion With Responsibility
Homelessness is not simply a matter of tents in public spaces.
Behind every tent is a human being.
People become homeless for different reasons. Some struggle with the cost and availability of housing. Others may be dealing with addiction, mental-health challenges, disability, unemployment, family breakdown, domestic violence, or difficulties navigating social services.
As Mayor, I would approach homelessness from a simple principle:
People deserve dignity, but our public spaces also deserve to be safe, clean and accessible to everyone.
I believe Thunder Bay can pursue both objectives.
We do not have to choose between compassion and public order.
We can have compassion with responsibility.
A Tent Should Be a Temporary Bridge, Not a Permanent Home
An encampment should not become someone’s permanent living arrangement.
At the same time, simply removing tents without providing a realistic alternative does not solve homelessness. It can simply move the problem from one location to another.
My approach would be:
Tent → Safe temporary accommodation → Support → Permanent housing
The objective should not be to count how many tents have been removed.
The objective should be to reduce the number of people who need a tent in the first place.
The real measure of success should be:
How many people no longer need one?
Keep People Safe First
Before asking someone to leave an encampment, there should be a realistic pathway to somewhere safer.
Depending on the person’s circumstances, that could include:
- Emergency shelter
- Safe temporary accommodation
- Washrooms and showers
- Drinking water
- Garbage and sanitation services
- Protection from extreme weather
- Access to health services
- Addiction and mental-health supports
- Assistance from trained outreach workers
- Secure storage for personal belongings
Nobody should be forced from a tent into the street with nowhere to go.
A humanitarian approach begins by making sure that a safer alternative actually exists.
Go to the People
One of the difficulties facing someone who is homeless is navigating a system of offices, forms, appointments and eligibility requirements.
A person who has lost their identification, transportation, telephone, income, housing and personal security may have difficulty navigating that system alone.
The City should therefore support an outreach approach that brings assistance directly to people.
Outreach workers could help individuals determine what they actually need:
- Identification and documentation
- Housing applications
- Income and disability benefits
- Employment assistance
- Addiction treatment
- Mental-health services
- Medical care
- Family reunification
- Protection from violence
- Financial and budgeting assistance
The first question should not simply be:
“Why won’t you leave?”
It should also be:
“What would help you leave?”
Create Safe, Managed Temporary Accommodation
For people who cannot immediately obtain permanent housing, Thunder Bay should examine safe and appropriately managed temporary accommodation.
A managed temporary site could provide people with greater dignity and safety than an unmanaged encampment.
Depending on the model, it could include:
- Individual secure living spaces
- Heat and electricity
- Washrooms and showers
- Laundry facilities
- Food access
- Personal storage
- Security
- On-site outreach services
- Health and social-service connections
- Clear rules for residents
This would not be intended to create permanent tent communities.
It would provide a bridge to something better.
Dignity and Rules Can Exist Together
Being homeless should not mean losing one’s basic dignity.
But compassion does not mean abandoning reasonable rules.
A public space belongs to the wider community as well as to the people who may be using it.
People experiencing homelessness should not be treated as criminals simply because they have no home.
At the same time, behaviour such as assault, trafficking, theft, vandalism, drug dealing, threats, or other criminal activity must be addressed through the appropriate authorities.
Homelessness is not a crime. Criminal behaviour is a separate issue.
Making that distinction allows us to protect vulnerable people while also protecting residents, businesses, neighbourhoods and other people experiencing homelessness.
Address the Housing Shortage
Encampments cannot be addressed permanently without addressing the shortage and affordability of housing.
Emergency accommodation can provide immediate safety.
Support services can help people overcome barriers.
But the long-term objective must be stable housing.
Thunder Bay needs to continue looking at practical ways to increase the supply of housing across different price levels and housing types.
That includes asking difficult questions about:
- How quickly housing can be approved and built
- Whether existing buildings can be converted to housing
- How to increase affordable rental options
- How to support supportive housing
- How to reduce unnecessary barriers to housing development
- How government, non-profit organizations and the private sector can work together
The City cannot solve every aspect of the housing crisis by itself.
But City leadership can help bring the right people together and focus attention on measurable results.
Measure Results, Not Just Activity
A humanistic approach should also be accountable.
It is not enough to say that services were provided or that an encampment was cleared.
We should ask what happened afterward.
Thunder Bay should look at measurable outcomes such as:
- How many people moved into permanent housing?
- How many remained housed after six months?
- How many remained housed after twelve months?
- How many obtained identification?
- How many entered treatment when treatment was appropriate?
- How many obtained employment or income supports?
- How many were reunited with family?
- How many returned to homelessness?
The goal should be to measure progress in people’s lives, not simply activity by government.
Give People a Reason to Leave
Ultimately, telling someone to leave a tent is not the same thing as giving them a reason to leave it.
Imagine the conversation being:
“We have a safe place for you. Your belongings can be secured. You can shower and get medical assistance. We will help you obtain identification. We will help you apply for housing and benefits. We will work with you toward permanent housing.”
That is a very different conversation from:
“You have to leave.”
The first approach offers a pathway.
The second may simply move the problem somewhere else.
Compassion With Responsibility
I do not believe homeless people should be treated as a problem that needs to be hidden or moved from one location to another.
I believe we should treat people with dignity while restoring order and safety to our public spaces.
That means providing a safe temporary alternative, bringing services directly to people, addressing the reasons people became homeless, increasing access to housing, and helping people move toward permanent stability.
But it also means recognizing that public spaces have to remain safe and accessible.
Compassion does not mean accepting chaos.
Enforcing reasonable rules does not mean treating people without compassion.
Thunder Bay can do both.
The Goal
The goal should not be simply to eliminate visible tents.
The goal should be to create a community where fewer people need them.
A tent should be a temporary bridge, not a destination.
A person experiencing homelessness should be treated as a person first.
And the measure of our success should ultimately be simple:
How many people have found their way home?