Eviction enforcement at Victoria/Weber should await approval from new regional council: Deutschmann

By Casey Taylor

A newly-elected regional councillor says it should be up to the incoming council to decide if and when an eviction order is enforced at an encampment at Weber and Victoria Streets in Kitchener.

Rob Deutschmann says he intends to move a motion requiring council sign-off prior to any enforcement action, regardless of what decision may come from the courts as to the Region's current application for an injunction.

“I consider this to be a major, significant, high-profile decision that really falls on council,” Deutschmann said.

The comment comes as later this month will also mark one year since the sudden eviction at an encampment on Stirling Avenue, and the backlash that followed.

“It was pretty clear, at that time, staff were operating under a certain set of guidelines but council wasn't aware,” said Deutschmann. “The concern in the community and the backlash in the community on this falls on council, so I think it is important for council to have [it's] say.”

He went on to suggest, if the new council is required to green-light enforcement, his vote would be to hold-off pending improvement to available alternatives — like a region-sanctioned hybrid indoor/outdoor encampment still in the works.

“The shelter spaces clearly are not working,” Deutschmann said. “They don't provide the safety that people are looking for, the privacy, the dignity that people are looking for, and so we need to do some improvement there.”

“We [also] need to move as quickly as we can on the hybrid encampment option so we can develop, perhaps, 'A Better Tent City II', for example,” he continued. “There's a lot of things to do [and], frankly, I feel the resources spent on this court action could have been better spent somewhere else.”

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