BEYOND LOCAL: Safety concerns cited in forced removal of encampment

CAMBRIDGE - Smoke can be seen billowing out from a homemade furnace in the parking lot of 415 Dundas St. N. as heavy machinery rips apart a homeless encampment in the background. 

For Russel Downie, this will be the second time the city has destroyed his home at the encampment dubbed Shantytown. 

"You should have seen the things they smashed," he said as he walked through the piles of belongings that he was able to remove from the site before they were left for garbage. 

"There's a really nice wood-burning stove right in there, but I can't pull it out."

Downie has spent the last 10 days removing as much of his personal belongings as he could before the city would enforce a notice that was given to them telling them to leave the property. 

Everything he owns is either in a pile outside the camp or being crushed and thrown into a large contractor bin by excavators, but losing everything is nothing new to Downie. 

Having been a carpenter for 40 years before ending up on the streets, Downie built a two-story structure in Shantytown that the city made him remove. 

"It had stairs and a whole deck up top, but they made me take it down so I did, because I wanted to stay here," he said. "After they forced me to remove it every time it rained I got wet. Everything got wet." 

Standing in a ripped winter jacket, Downie put more wood and paper into his homemade heater just to keep himself warm as the sound of the machines and trucks acted as a familiar background noise. 

The City of Cambridge confirmed the demolition of the camp was scheduled for Nov. 12 as stated on a notice given to the residents and the property owner. 

"This decision was made following a series of emergency calls to this location associated with the use of fires. The property is also in close proximity to the rail site which has dangerous goods, such as petroleum," said manager of bylaw John Mattocks in an emailed statement to CambridgeToday. 

The city cites safety concerns for those living around the encampment and those who resided inside the camp as the reason for its removal. 

The city councillor responsible for the ward where the encampment was located, Ross Earnshaw, told CambridgeToday he was unaware the city was clearing the camp out and found out through the media. He was informed last week that the residents were given a notice to leave, but he wasn't made aware when it was happening. 

"I'm not particularly well informed about what happened yesterday, at least not yet," said Earnshaw. "This is an intolerable situation all around. Whether you're thinking in terms of the people who are residing in the encampments, or those who are in the vicinity of them and affected by them."

The owner of the property, a numbered company 1205438 Ontario Inc. whose director is listed as Vince Capotorto owes over $100,000 in taxes and other charges to the city, leaving the property in arrears as of Jan. 1, 2024. 

Multiple attempts to reach Capotorto for comments were unsuccessful. 

According to Earnshaw this means the city will have a chance to assume control over the property and sell it to recoup its losses. The charges from this demolition will be added to the property owner's tax bill. City staff did not respond to requests for the total amount owed to the city but information on the tax roll list its assessed value at $206,000 with annual billing at over $6,000.

The encampment clear out comes after weeks of strong rhetoric from Cambridge Mayor Jan Liggett and Ontario Premier Doug Ford surrounding the clearing of encampments and the province's support of municipalities who might wind up in legal trouble for evictions. 

Ashley Schuitema, executive director of the Waterloo Region Community Legal Service said the city feels emboldened by the premier and is following his "heavy-handed" approach to homelessness. 

"I think they feel like they can do these things with impunity," said Schuitema. 

She added that this situation is different from other encampment clearings as the city is relying on building code violations and not bylaw violations.

"This makes it trickier in terms of challenging it constitutionally," she said. "It's a very complex legal situation." 

The city said regional and community social workers have been to the site to offer support. 

"We continue to work together with our regional and community partners to ensure all necessary supports are available to those affected and to connect them to more appropriate housing and community supports," wrote Mattocks. "Unfortunately, not all people staying at this site accepted the provided supports."

Downie added that leaving his belongings, estimated to be worth about $10,000, is not an option and he needs to find a new place to build a shelter. 

He said he's in the process of constructing a legal shelter but worries the city will find him and evict him again. 

"I don't know where I'm going to go, but I hope they don't tear my stuff down again. I can't keep building these things just to have them treated like trash," he said.