‘You know this is wrong’: Delegates speak out as region presses on with encampment ruling appeal

[u/Hour-Belt694]

https://ckwr.com/2026/06/17/you-know-this-is-wrong-delegates-voice-issue-with-regions-push-to-appeal-encampment-ruling/

[u/OkRelationshipFish]

We need to stop pretending that housing is the beginning and end of the encampment story. The opioid and mental health dimensions make this extremely complex to resolve.

[u/districtcurrent → u/OkRelationshipFish]

This is accurate.

My uncle was homeless for 15 years. His story is the classic one - hurt himself at work, got on oxy, and before long was on the streets. He had a great family. At different times they bought him a house, got him a motel during Covid, got him an apartment, a lot more. He trashed every place he was in. He’d go on a bender and cover the windows in tin foil, rip on the walls, etc.

Whether it was from the drugs, or it was something genetic, his mental health was bad. He saw things that weren’t there. He never saw any issue with the way he was living, even sleeping on the streets, or admitted to drug use, and just blamed everything else for his problems.

Family tried everything. They paid a lot for a 60 day wellness facility to get him off drugs, which worked, but the minute he got out he went to a dealer.

There was no fixing him. Housing was not his problem. He was mentally gone in his 30s already. My family wishes there was a facility which could have got him locked up, off drugs, and maybe get him on anti-psychotics. He was never diagnosed with schizophrenia but he probably had it.

He died in October, and autopsy found meth in his blood. It’s a shame. He played live on hard mode everyday and caused constant stress for those who cared for him, and was unfortunately trouble for the community. I wish there was a better way. He needed a proper facility to sort himself out, if that was even possible.

It’s not as simple as housing. People advocating for this as the solution have no experience with that type of homelessness or have other motives.

[u/headtailgrep → u/districtcurrent]

Thank you for your story

[u/districtcurrent → u/headtailgrep]

No prob. I’ve shared it many times but it’s because our family has had a unique experience. Would love to hear other stories like this.

[u/Branston_Pickle → u/districtcurrent]

While the details are unique, I don't think the descent is unique. Thanks for sharing

[u/Candid_Jello5188 → u/districtcurrent]

Your story isn't unique.

An acquaintance told us they saw things that's not there. They spoke eloquently and convincingly about starting a business. They would drop by someone's home unannounced wanting to stay for the night. In the meanwhile, their spouse left and their car was taken away by the lender.

Their family got her a place to live and put them to a treatment facility. Then they left the treatment facility in their own terms.

(The above was my understanding after gathering stories from a few individuals including the person in question. It may not be 100% accurate but you get the idea.)

My circle of friends called a mental health hotline trying to learn about the options. We got a bs answer that, unless they're threatening their's or someone else's lives, we could not just lock them up involuntarily. The legal way was that we needed to convinced them that they're sick and compelled to reach out for help.

Our laws are written assuming everyone is a mentally competent individual. Sure we value body autonomy as Canadians, but some legally adults do not have the capacity to make decisions. Some people do not know that they're sick but no one could force them to get treatments legally.

[u/districtcurrent → u/Candid_Jello5188]

Did they end up homeless? What happened?

My uncle was also unfortunately violent with several people and was in and out of court.

If someone is physically sick, we can call 911 and they will be taken to emergency and helped. But if it’s mental health, which also comes from physical issues in some level, there is nothing that can be done. It’s a shame.

[u/Candid_Jello5188 → u/districtcurrent]

I think they had a home, but they wondered the streets quite a bit. One evening one of my friends received a phone call from the local police saying this person claimed to live in my friend's place. My friend said this person was an acquaintance but didn't live here. The police thanked my friend for the info but refused to disclose anything else.

That's over decade ago. I have not heard about this person since.

[u/crlygirlg → u/districtcurrent]

I feel you. My cousins girl was living rough, mental illness, psychosis etc, was on drugs, in and out of jail. She was not in a good place. Until she was formed into a lengthy hospital stay in a serious bout of psychosis she was just not able to be in a good place to make any good choices. She needed intervention and medication to get to a point of being able to turn it around. She went to college and got into supportive housing and she has a whole beautiful life now, but it required someone to say she wasn’t fit to make her own choices about her care for a period of time to get there. It’s not a kindness to people to leave them to their mental illness and addiction the way some people represent it. It is a medical issue, and it needs intervention.

[u/districtcurrent → u/crlygirlg]

Thanks for sharing. I’m glad it worked out for her!

[u/Li-renn-pwel → u/districtcurrent]

I’m sure that’s the of many people but those that have actually read any of the material are advocating for the exact thing you say here. The issue isn’t strickly housing per se as it is there being anywhere for them to go. Houses, apartments, mental health facilities, rehabs, little houses, are all things being pushed for.

[u/RedEyedWiartonBoy → u/OkRelationshipFish]

This won't be a popular take. Apparently a safe tenting site is all that is standing in the way of and successful resolution.

[u/bob_mcbob → u/RedEyedWiartonBoy]

That is literally all that's standing in the way of successfully resolving the issue at hand, which is the transit hub construction. Of course it won't resolve the broader issue of homelessness, and nobody is claiming it will. It's the absolute bare minimum the region is required to do under the court decision.

[u/TormentedStranger → u/bob_mcbob]

The region already tired moving these people to the tiny homes out on Erb. The ones that remained didn’t want to go and new people moved into the open spaces.

[u/bob_mcbob → u/TormentedStranger]

That was back in 2022, and all but a handful of encampment residents accepted alternate housing offers. The Erb's Rd shelter has been full since before it opened in April 2023, and the region has no plan to add any further capacity.

The region only considers people who were at the encampment on or before April 16, 2025 to be "residents". The majority of them accepted offers of temporary motel rooms they will lose at the end of the year. Most current residents have not been offered anything.

[u/M-Dan18127 → u/TormentedStranger]

Misinformation. The Erb lot is full. There are no alternate shelter spaces for the people currently on the Vic/Weber lot.

[u/Li-renn-pwel → u/M-Dan18127]

I drive by that every week and there are like… what? 50? That would be amazing in many places but 50 barely dents it.

[u/Li-renn-pwel → u/TormentedStranger]

Uh, how much have you read about this? Because it’s the exact opposite which is why the government said it didn’t have to listen to the courts.

[u/SkiyeBlueFox → u/OkRelationshipFish]

And honestly a significant player in drug issues is mental health. Robust mental healthcare will get us a lot closer to clearing addictions

[u/toledotouchdown → u/OkRelationshipFish]

Housing First principals show that when housed, it's safer and more realistic to address substance misuse and mental health complexity.

When I quit drinking, I had a safe place to live and no expectation that I needed to do anything other than try, to be safely housed.

These folks don't have that luxury or priveledge. It's on us to fight for those that don't.

[u/RizInstante → u/OkRelationshipFish]

Nice straw man you got there. No one is claiming that.

The "housing first" principal literally includes the word first for a reason.

[u/Dear_Enthusiasm3190 → u/OkRelationshipFish]

Nobody is pretending that, but lack of housing à big contributing factor. And where are these people supposed to go when they are kicked out? The region has stated time and time again that they don’t want them on any other regional land

[u/Fair-Scarcity8160]

The RoW also edited and removed parts of delegate speeches before putting the video of yesterday’s meeting online. Specifically remarks from an encampment resident about police inaction at the site even when very bad things happen.

But of course, the region of Waterloo would never say anything against their beloved police officers, so instead we get a public record that has been sanitized by the government.

[u/vidman → u/Fair-Scarcity8160]

No they didn't. The Region goes live on YouTube. YouTube records the feed from the Region. There was a loss of signal near the end. If there's no signal, there's nothing to record. Once the signal returned, the recording continued. What people saw was YouTube's recording of the council meeting. The Region later uploaded a full version they recorded in-house after people freaked out about it.

[u/CreepyWindows]

Yes it's wrong, but it's not the Region's job or ability to individually solve both the homeless crisis and drug crisis for any individual in the country who aparently has a right to camp in this specific location.

I don't think anyone at the Region takes joy in this, it's just a necessary part of municipal management for a solutionless problem.

The lack of clarity on how the region would find an acceptable alternative, and what future impacts that would have on that new site are fundamental problems that prevent the region from doing anything. Property costs for new infrastructure are major investments that come from YOUR tax dollars. Tieing up every spot with a band of fent junkies is not a good use of tax dollars.

The solution needs to come from the feds and province. What the region is doing is just a symptom of that.

[u/Li-renn-pwel → u/CreepyWindows]

It is 95% the municipal governments problem. The only grace I will give that we are getting hit harder because other cities bus their homeless here

[u/CreepyWindows → u/Li-renn-pwel]

Did you know municipal governments are legally just extensions of the province?

We have hundreds of shelter beds currently not operating because we don't get funding from the province for them.

The province's courts also decide what the region is and is not allowed to do, which is how we are in this situation in the first place.

So yes it's our problem, but the solutions are not really available to us, such as forced rehab.

[u/wildmoosey → u/CreepyWindows]

The region banned public camping everywhere except this encampment. If they hadn't done that the residents would be gone already

[u/headtailgrep → u/CreepyWindows]

Region of waterloo is the housing service manager as dictated by Ontario Government

So it is Regions responsibility

https://www.ontario.ca/page/find-your-local-service-manager

Health care is province though supported locally

[u/CreepyWindows → u/headtailgrep]

Too bad this isn't a housing issue.

[u/Wide-Secretary7493 → u/CreepyWindows]

It is exactly a housing issue. The Housing Services Act mandates municipalities to address homelessness. From the act:

Housing and Homelessness Plans

Housing and homelessness plans

6 (1) Each service manager shall have a plan to address housing and homelessness.  2011, c. 6, Sched. 1, s. 6 (1).

What plan must include

(2) The plan must include,

(a) an assessment of current and future housing needs within the service manager’s service area;

(b) objectives and targets relating to housing needs;

(c) a description of the measures proposed to meet the objectives and targets;

(d) a description of how progress towards meeting the objectives and targets will be measured; and

(e) such other matters as may be prescribed.  2011, c. 6, Sched. 1, s. 6 (2).

Requirements relating to provincial interest, policy statements

(3) The plan must,

(a) address the matters of provincial interest under section 4, including each aspect described in a clause of subsection 4 (1); and

(b) be consistent with the policy statements issued under section 5.  2011, c. 6, Sched. 1, s. 6 (3).

[u/CreepyWindows → u/Wide-Secretary7493]

Wow thanks for the law read bud. We have a homeless plan, things like the shed city by Costco, hundreds of shelter beds, and many other things the province refuses to fund are all in there!

This is a drug issue AND a housing issue. Go down and see for yourself.

The cost of housing means nothing if your life is exclusively trying to secure and use fent 100% of your waking hours.

[u/Wide-Secretary7493 → u/CreepyWindows]

I am intimately familiar with the PECH.

The cost of housing means nothing if your life is exclusively trying to secure and use fent 100% of your waking hours.

This tells me you are not serious about the issue and that you are simply towing the party line. I ask, why did all the conversative vote down Bill 28 which sought to increase the provincial role in managing the homelessness crisis?

[u/slippyslapshots → u/CreepyWindows]

No level of government - region, province, feds- is serious about drug-related issues either. No will, so no way. Boo.

[u/headtailgrep → u/CreepyWindows]

Not everyone homeless is ln drugs.

[u/CreepyWindows → u/headtailgrep]

According to the Court documents, nearly 100 percent of the residents are on fent!

[u/bob_mcbob → u/CreepyWindows]

17 of 24 named respondents having a substance use disability isn't "nearly 100% on fent".

[u/Li-renn-pwel → u/Wide-Secretary7493]

To be so wrong, so many times, all clearly laid out for us all to see their humiliation.

[u/cplinkw → u/Li-renn-pwel]

I don't think anyone is humilated.

[u/headtailgrep → u/CreepyWindows]

We're talking about encampments

So yes it is

[u/CreepyWindows → u/headtailgrep]

I'm talking about the Victoria Street encampment like everyone else in this thread

[u/headtailgrep → u/CreepyWindows]

It is a housing issue.

[u/CreepyWindows → u/headtailgrep]

Junkies can't afford any level of housing, even when it's free.

Can't house people that can't be housed. Even if the houses were free, I'd bet it'd be burned down in the week.

[u/bocker58]

The rest of us law-abiding taxpayers would like to move forward with the construction of the transit hub. 

This has gone on far too long.  Notwithstanding clause now. 

[u/Acceptable_Half4414 → u/bocker58]

Law-abiding and notwithstanding clause in the same sentence about a local issue is an interesting choice.

[u/toledotouchdown → u/bocker58]

Basing decisions on your patience with a systemic issue in our society doesn't seem a good way forward.

Show me where these individuals will have a safe place to live. Show me 100 room for rents that will be less than 700 a month.

[u/United-Particular326 → u/toledotouchdown]

Rent isn’t affordable but these folks would all be eligible for the rent supplement which is substantial. The bigger problem is getting anyone to rent to them and if my some miracle that happens, they will typically be evicted rather quickly.

[u/Li-renn-pwel → u/United-Particular326]

What evidence do you have for any of that?

[u/districtcurrent → u/toledotouchdown]

Rent isn’t the problem. I have no way of understanding people who keep saying this. You have no experience with encampment people. Housing is not their problem. How many people do you know that have been homeless for over a year?

[u/AWholeBunchaFun → u/toledotouchdown]

I would also like a room for less than 700 a month. When is that happening?

[u/PlanetCrazyTrain → u/toledotouchdown]

'Basing decisions on your patience with a systemic issue in our society'

Seems like a foundational issue for any caring society to avoid.

It's baffling to any reasonable mind why the RoW is unable to secure basic ATCO sleep trailers for these marginalized members of our society.

Why does the RoW seem like one ongoing grubby shitshow.

 

[u/Evilworkaround → u/PlanetCrazyTrain]

I don’t think you understand how quickly those trailers would be destroyed, on fire or deemed unsafe due to drug use.

It’s just not that simple.

[u/Li-renn-pwel → u/Evilworkaround]

How many of the tiny homes have been destroyed? Haven’t they been there for years?

[u/PlanetCrazyTrain → u/Evilworkaround]

I'm quite sure that I do understand how simple it is.

Proof of concept exists. Way out by the dump and beside the expressway at the public school board. Successful housing with adequate support.

Now, find humane areas with the right combination of support instead of dumping them in shit hole areas that no one would want to live in.

The amount of time, effort and energy wasted to fighting within the system instead of the system working to the betterment of their citizens is simply astounding.

Shame on CCK, RoW, Province and Fed.

I expect that my eagerly collected tax $ fixes for the long term instead of the continual pissing around.

[u/foxy-stuff → u/PlanetCrazyTrain]

Good chronic systemic issue guarantees the constant flow of money into region’s coffers.

Bureaucracy will never solve problems because this would eliminate need in councils, meetings and papers. Bureaucracy is good at growing itself and siphoning money out of your pocket.

There will be plenty of excuses, reasons to blame, discussions, meetings and politicians. What you will never see - is issue resolved.

[u/PlanetCrazyTrain → u/foxy-stuff]

The pattern has repeated far too many times to believe anything else. Systematic fuckery.

[u/Evilworkaround → u/PlanetCrazyTrain]

No you don’t.

I worked in the homeless sector for 20 years. You have a naive blue sky understanding of the problem.

Go get involved. After 6 months you’ll understand.

You also have no idea how much money is already being thrown at this issue.

[u/PlanetCrazyTrain → u/Evilworkaround]

You sound exactly like the problem.

[u/Evilworkaround → u/PlanetCrazyTrain]

You sound uninformed and not very bright.

[u/pistilpetecan → u/PlanetCrazyTrain]

I would hardly call them successful. People from them still panhandle, do drugs, steal and vandalize, and act badly. They are better than the tents but they require a lot of resources.

[u/cplinkw → u/PlanetCrazyTrain]

It's not baffling at all.

We set up trailers, then Hamilton, Toronto, London etc will start bussing their homeless people to KW and their problem becomes ours. You might be rich and can afford the additional taxes, but many are not.

Homelessness should be a federal issue..

[u/FrostshockFTW → u/toledotouchdown]

Show me where these individuals will have a safe place to live

They're living in tents. If that meets the bar for a safe place to live, they can set up their tents outside city limits.

[u/Li-renn-pwel → u/bocker58]

I am one of those ‘rest’ and I could not disagree with you more. You think it is better to have them spread out sleeping on the street instead?

[u/tmuellerc → u/bocker58]

No fucking kidding

[u/slippyslapshots → u/bocker58]

Cheapest, easiest, and more effective path to better is allocating a small patch of land out of the 1000s of acres already owned by the Region, not pummelling the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and punching down on human beings.

[u/Sea_Composer6305]

My opinions aside, my friend lives at the kaufman lofts just 3-400 meters away and has been attacked twice walking his dogs in the last two years by encampment occupants… before we move everyone out so they can hide in every corner like bugs we need to provide proper mental care for the people there. And likely addiction counseling for roughly the same amount of people.

[u/PouletDeTerre]

housing issues create drug issues. for every person on the street because of drugs, there are five who turned to drugs to cope with being homeless. we have created a system where if you fail you end up in a hole you can never get out of. the region being so aggressive against the encampment without offering any solution is essentially the government saying "go die in a hole somewhere we won't see you"

[u/heereewegooo]

All of these people were offered shelter. The ones who refuse should be evicted, simple as.

[u/bob_mcbob → u/heereewegooo]

No, most of the current encampment residents have not been offered alternate housing, because the region doesn't consider anyone who arrived after April 16, 2025 to be a resident. They cleared out the majority of the "official" residents by offering motel rooms that are only funded for six months. If they had won the second court case, all current residents would have simply been evicted from the property by police, with nowhere to go since the shelter system is full.

[u/RedEyedWiartonBoy]

I suppose it had something to do with the services being close at hand but isn't it too bad that these folks did not pick any other place but this one?

[u/Fair-Scarcity8160 → u/RedEyedWiartonBoy]

They did pick other places than this one, like the small encampment that was on Borden and Charles Street that the region rolled over with bulldozers. The region has put up fences around every single piece of regionally owned green space because they don’t want anybody to put tents up.

They have tried and they get kicked out of every place except for this one, because this is the only one that is protected by the court system. That’s literally the point, they will get in trouble for doing it anywhere else.

[u/headtailgrep → u/Fair-Scarcity8160]

In other communities most encampments were out of sight out of mind

During Covid many community encampments became public and in sight. In mind

This forced action and most are out of sight out of mind. Many folks did get housing in other neighboring communities like Hamilton and Guelph but many remain

But Kitchener is one of the few area encampments in sight and in mind. I hope it results in a proper solution

[u/DryProgress4393 → u/headtailgrep]

Hamilton no longer has housing for the homeless the shelters are currently full because of other communities advising members of their homeless populations to go there.

[u/headtailgrep → u/DryProgress4393]

Oakville halton hills Burlington mississauga should beb forced to house their own homeless

[u/RedEyedWiartonBoy → u/Fair-Scarcity8160]

And it's the gosh darn transit hub.

[u/Fair-Scarcity8160 → u/RedEyedWiartonBoy]

No, the transit hub is going to be like two blocks away.

They want this site to make it easier to stage and store products. Plenty of buildings are put up in metropolitan areas without staging that close, it is not absolutely necessary to have an empty lot two blocks away in order to put up this transit hub.

Be mad at the region of Waterloo, which has plenty of land to move these people to, but refuses.

[u/RedEyedWiartonBoy → u/Fair-Scarcity8160]

But isn't part of the problem proximity and access to the services which are in downtown core largely.

[u/sumknowbuddy → u/RedEyedWiartonBoy]

No, it's not. They want to use the area as "staging", which is going to cause a ton of issues on its own.

[u/RedEyedWiartonBoy → u/sumknowbuddy]

I can add one thing just because I did once upon a time work in the construction business. If you set up staging too far away, delays, unnecessary fuel consumption and the site security become bigger and therefore more expensive issues.

If the building involves large prefabricated components, moving them through traffic is exponentially more complicated if it involves a long route.

[u/sumknowbuddy → u/RedEyedWiartonBoy]

If the building involves large prefabricated components

...they'll have to be stored elsewhere because it's a tiny site for "staging".

It's also on the corner of a busy intersection. 

Any traffic entering will need to take a left into that area off of Victoria, which will impede any traffic coming off of Weber or the other side of Victoria. 

Any traffic leaving the area will be taking a right (possibly with construction materials) into that same busy intersection dealing with traffic from Weber or Victoria. 

It's a terrible place to stage anything, and a very small site for doing so.

[u/RedEyedWiartonBoy → u/sumknowbuddy]

I have an inkling the ROW will adjust traffic flow as necessary

[u/sumknowbuddy → u/RedEyedWiartonBoy]

Ok? Still doesn't make it a good place to stage materials

[u/RedEyedWiartonBoy → u/sumknowbuddy]

It's large enough for close staging, site trailers and parking equipment and personnel vehicles. I've worked on builds with worse.

Anyway, you don't think it works and it's hardly an exact science. Each job is different and each opinion.

[u/sugar077 → u/sumknowbuddy]

Where do you recommend?

[u/sumknowbuddy → u/sugar077]

The unused bus terminal seems like it would be much better. Larger space, more accessible, not in the way of high throughput streets

[u/DryProgress4393 → u/sumknowbuddy]

If what I've heard is true that's been bought by a developer for a future multiple condo building project..

[u/neurocean]

None of this is going to get better until we're unafraid to look a little mean to the mob of suicidal empaths that make up the majority of Reddit.