Premier Ford calls judge’s ruling on Victoria encampment ‘cockamamie’
Posted May 22, 2026 03:46:34 PM.
Last Updated May 22, 2026 04:15:38 PM.
An Ontario judge’s recent decision barring the Region of Waterloo from removing people living in a homeless encampment is “cockamamie,” Premier Doug Ford said on Friday.
Justice Michael R. Gibson found in a decision released Thursday that a local bylaw created to allow the region to remove about two dozen homeless people from a parking lot encampment violates their rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The 100 Victoria St. encampment has been around since 2021, when thousands of homeless people fled shelters during the COVID-19 pandemic and set up outside in all parts of the province.
The region has argued the parking lot is needed to allow for construction to begin on the Kitchener Central Transit Hub later this year. The hub is set to provide bus and light rail service, a GO Transit station and a Via Rail stop.
Ford said Gibson’s decision was “the most ridiculous ruling I’ve ever seen” that puts the rights of a few dozen people over millions of future transit riders.
“He comes out with this cockamamie idea that they’re gonna hold up transit, so for what, 30 people, they’re going to hold up millions and millions of riders, communities and everything,” Ford said at an unrelated press conference in Sault Ste. Marie.
“The judge is saying that we got to hold up projects and everything,” he said. “I wish I could get that guy’s address, I’ll send 50 encampments in his backyard and see how he likes it.”
The judge found the bylaw to be unconstitutional and invalid.
