Ryan, who is 39 and and has been in Barrie for 14 years, passes through the camp area at Audrey Milligan Park and Pond, walking a battered bicycle with his dog.
He had problems living there previously, which is why he left.
“Lack of respect. Yeah, we all do drugs, but no one needs to yell ‘crack’ or ‘fentanyl,'” he told BarrieToday, referring to a few tenants living in the apartment building next to the encampment. “We all have problems — we all sort it out someway.”
Ronnie, 60, said he worked all his life, and comes from Newmarket, Bramalea and Toronto. He arrived in Barrie two years ago and has been at the Milligan’s encampment, near the corner of Perry and Boys streets, since last year.
“Trying to find a place,” he said, adding he’s looking for anything, even trying to use social services to find a place.
Ronnie says people have a right to be camping there.
“Who can afford a thousand dollars a month for (a room) rent? I can’t,” he said. “Even when I was working I couldn’t. I only get $400 a month right now."
The street allowance, as he calls it, comes from Ontario Works.
The Community Legal Clinic of York Region, in a May 7 letter to Barrie’s mayor and councillors, says: "It has come to our attention that the City of Barrie is issuing trespass notices to residents of homeless encampments. Please be aware that such evictions are unlawful under current Ontario law. We strongly urge you to cease and desist."
The legal clinic offers a city-issued Notice of Action Required dated May 6 at 11:33 a.m., issued to a person named Sasha at Milligan’s Pond, near Dunlop and Anne streets.
The Barrie bylaw violations are for debris on city property and camping within a public park without authorization.
The violations were to be corrected within 24 hours.
Scott LaMantia, manager of marketing and communications with Access Barrie, the city’s communications arm, said the city has received complaints from neighbouring residents and property owners concerning the debris and activities occurring in Milligan’s Park and Pond that are contrary to local bylaws.
He said, as per the standard practice, the sheltering/outreach organizations, the County of Simcoe and Barrie Police Service, are notified of the complaints with a request for attendance to provide shelter/support services that may be available.
“The Notice of Action Required is not an eviction notice,” LaMantia said. “The Notice of Action Required is intended to identify the matters that are contrary to the city’s bylaws.
“The city, given the Ontario court decisions and the lack of available shelter space at this time, is not proceeding with evictions,” he added. “However, municipal law enforcement staff are advising individuals when their actions or behaviours are contrary to municipal bylaws.”
Jeff Schlemmer, executive director of the Community Legal Clinic of York Region, responded to the city’s position.
“We appreciate (Barrie) council complying with judicial guidance and not evicting residents of encampments,” he said. “It’s a bit odd for city staff to tell encampment residents that they are contravening a bylaw which the courts say doesn’t apply to them.
“Hopefully this isn’t intended as a ‘back-door’ way to pressure residents into leaving," Schlemmer added.
Schlemmer said he hopes the city, county, provincial and federal governments will start working together to create adequate accommodation for the homeless — and at some point will restore supports such as social assistance and subsidized housing.
“Which used to permit these citizens, mostly disabled, to live in dignity and some comfort, in homes of their own,” he said. “If they don’t then the problem is poised to get a lot worse.”
Ryan says he was the first one camping in Milligan’s Pond area in January, along with his girlfriend. He picked the spot “because it’s peaceful.”
He’s now living at what is referred to as “flat rock,” near Anne and Victoria streets, he said.
He says there’s a loophole in the city bylaws.
“All you have to do is move your tent 20 feet or add on something, and they (city bylaw enforcement) have to come back in about a week or week and a half," Ryan said.
But Ryan said that doesn’t solve the problem,
“What are we going to do, sit under a tree if it snows?” he asked.
