Caleb Ratzlaff says problem is lack of affordable housing, not a "refusal to move"
A St. Catharines city councillor is one of a few in Niagara opposing use of the Notwithstanding clause to move homeless camps away from parks, schools, homes.
Many politicians provincially, including in Niagara, have asked the Premier to use it, enabling an overriding of Charter Rights to move camps, while judges have ruled there must be a place to move them first.
While Caleb Ratzlaff understands the need to help, he says much greater focus is needed on affordable housing.
He doesn't buy the argument that some people refuse help. "These encampments aren't growing because all of a sudden hundreds of people are saying 'I don't want affordable housing, I don't want mental health supports', that's not the case at all. These encampments are growing because we can't keep up with the numbers of evictions we're seeing in Niagara. "
He says more mental health support is needed, as people refuse shelter help out of bad experiences.
"Who's going to want to go to sleep on a piece of foam in the middle of a gym floor that's filled up with 70 other individuals that also have mental health crisis? Thankfully, the Niagara Region has made massive steps with that new shelter on Riordon Street in St. Catharines."
He says the province needs more mental health supportive services, and housing, not forcing people to move along.
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