Encampment Response Consultation

Keep them away from anywhere where vulnerable people gather. The 3 parks mostly. 100 metres from all recreatiinal spots and paths

Addressing homelessness and addiction in Napanee requires acknowledging the reality that not all individuals experiencing homelessness are seeking support or change. Some may choose to live on the streets and use drugs, viewing their lifestyle as preferable or unavoidable. This presents a unique set of challenges that demands a nuanced approach. There are mutliple issues at hand here. We (citizens) lack the training or outreach to fix this issue.
Homelessness and addiction are intertwined challenges that require a multifaceted approach.
In Napanee, where community spirit runs deep, we have the potential to implement effective solutions that address both issues head-on.
We need to help those who are homeless due to a situation not related to drugs/mental illness . Those folks who lost their home to other reasons (emergency shelter, lack of education , rising living costs, lack of employment, issues with their current residence and its safety etc.) They are the people we need to help today. Get them off the street first.
They need to be fast tracked.

Those who are choosing due to mental health issues or are deep in the addiction cycle, need increased health care, opportunity and education on getting clean and the hand needed to get sober and in a home only if clean from drugs. You need to want to get clean before any solution can be found.

Those people who are choosing that life, have a right to be safe in their tent, that means a piece of land that has room for tents, that is policed by trained police who understand addiction, resources from mental and health units for regular innoculation, health care and mental health care. Hoping that one day they are able to see the light and get out of the addiction cycle.
No one grows up and thinks "Can't wait to be a drug addict" this is a deep routed issue in people that we need to change first the outcome is addiction and homelessness.
Health Care, Mental Health Care, Educated Police and engagement from trained personnel is the answer with a clearly defined policies on where you can and can-not camp (parks, yards, schools, play areas, against the Napanee sign in the park etc. etc.) they need a "home" a space for their tent we have empty public property owned by the city that can be utilized. On entry , the people get innoculated, a check up, proper care etc. almost like an asylum without the walls.
I just think we need to start at the beginning and understand what we can do when these folks are young and struggling will in the long run help them not become a statistic in Napanee.

Round them up and ship them out.

get rid of them all together. It’s a drug infestation. Typical liberal governing. Let’s destroy the community. Put them in jail or a camp. It’s beyond disgusting. We used to be a proper society. Crack a meth encampment.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on this Encampment Response Protcol and the proposed bylaw.

Understand from the beginning that I am sensitive to and empathetic to the plight of homeless people in our community. An easy solution is unavailable.

Remember this community exists for ALL residents, tenants, citizens and visitors to the Town of Greater Napanee. Giving special exemption privileges or status to select or a defined group runs counter the Bill of Rights and Freedoms and counter to the mandate given to the Council and Staff of the town by the voters of the community. This also divides overall pubic opinion both favourable and unfavourable, creates animousity between tax paying residents as well as tenants, visitors and business people.

My comments will be directed mostly to the Protocol and specific sections that are unacceptable to be incorporated with the bylaw.

I reference the Encampment Response Protocol, section 2: Definitions, paragraph (e) "Sensitive Use Area", items i, ii, iii, and iv - these four items must be excluded from the definition of "Sensitive Use Area". All these areas are used by children and families either for recreation facilities installed on these properties or for purposes such a education, daycare, specific sports or other events or activities for childrenand families, as well as many foolks who visit the town and may be considering Greater Napanee for a future home. These areas must be reserved exclusively for use by the general public without encampments for unhoused or precariously housed individuals.

Further, I note that our CAO specifically referenced the City of Hamilton Encampment Protocol where he was previously employed. The CBC reports (July 14, 2024) that many citizens have responded to their protocol saying that, after a year in effect, it is proving to be inadequate and unenforceable forcing citizens and their affectd families to complain loudly to council. The major complaint is being unable to use the parks and activity areas as originally they were intended and those residents are calling 911 abiout drug overdoses, property damage, littering and waste as well as theft. The result being that the whole protcol and bylaw prcess appears to be undergoing some very serious rconsideration.

This makes the case even more compelling for the Supreme Court case law rulings, relative to Human Rights, to be questioned and challenged recognizing that giving special exemption to allow encampments merely drives a wedge between the housed and unhoused and erodes the safety of both groups. It also strangles potential citizen involvement that could assist and move forward to a better working effort toward reducing homelessness and its associated issues.

The long term solution to this is to eradicate street drug use - a societal issue that is, in all truth, unacheiveable. Meanwhile, the mental health of all our citizens needs full health, social and spiritualTh support. irty plus years ago, when the less-than-perfect mental health hospitals were closed without a broader working model, all these people were left with only the street for a home.

Again, thank you for listening - Please hear your people and do your job to provide a safe community to live, work, play and retire in!

Please feel free to contact for further discussion.

iI have heard that the town of Napanee does NOT have a full time bylaw officer, is this accurate?

I am not in support of any encampments within parks or near schools etc
Don’t allow it to happen and let it be challenged in court.
My tax paying dollars should not be used for this encampment proposal.
Our downtown core is already staring to look like a ghost town. When businesses are shuttered what will be your tax base?
Have a mobile methadone clinic and move them from store fronts and drug stores.
Safe injection sites are a no go. They don’t work.

Our parks where our children once played and our seniors once walked are no longer a positive, safe space for them to enjoy. We are currently putting mentally ill, drug addicted, non-tax paying occupants above everyone else to not offend the woke left. It’s time to bring back common sense and make safety our number one priority for our citizens. Not to mention our downtown is repelling it’s own residents, business owners and tourists. Things are being vandalized, garbage, needles and literal human feces are left for the town workers to clean up…it’s disgusting. The town needs to grow a back bone and say enough is enough.

Is there a piece of vacant land they could use. Drop off a garbage bin and Porta potties. Then set up a temporary resource office.

I believe encampments will be a big mistake to create in any public area, as a tax payer I would like to enjoy our public parks. Create shelter for the homeless is a must but not in tents

6 Napanee home owners over for tea. We all tried to complete survey. Some of the questions left us with no option. Isolation is not the goal. We all agreed this is not what we wish for our homeless. To be pushed away .

Message to Town Hall:
That we need to prevent encampments by focusing all resources/energies (financial and human) on providing housing solutions. Encampments are not good for the people who use them, and they are not good for communities. All they do is worsen the divide between vulnerable people in communities and their fellow community members. They will be a constant eyesore and frustration that will grow, no matter what we do to limit the size and scope - and they will never replace dignified housing solutions.
We need to channel all our energy and innovation into a single-pronged, non-negotiable "housing first" strategy. We must engage all the compassionate responders in the community - agencies, churches, individuals - and establish adequate short-term housing. Any energy spent on administering encampments, or creating infrastructure to support them will simply perpetuate them. They will grow and get out of control in spite of any attempt to keep them in a box or buffer zone.

Why can't there be an encampment aera in the area behind the complex where Jimmi’s Italian is. Close to stores ,away from parks,schools and downtown

Move them. There is enough bending by taxpayers to support and give. The sad reality is this. The park brings visitors which means helping the economy by visiting shops and restaurants. I for one would avoid the park right now. That means I will send my money elsewhere. I'm sorry if this hurts people's feelings but I do not want to be jabbed by a dirty discarded needle or step in someone's body fluids. Gross but it's a reality. As adults we stop our children from making a mess. Kingston just had murders in an encampment. Who's to say someone walking through the park won't get stabbed or assaulted by someone out of it on drugs. That park is a very beautiful place to go and to let this be overrun is a shame. You give an inch and some expect a mile.

They all didn't choose to be homeless please allow the to stay at the fair ground

The council should lead by example and have these tents placed in directly in front of the government buildings and the townhall doors.

They should be viewable by you any time you are working as a sign that you are committed to solving this and are willing to take the brunt of this head on until you can.

I have been following the various meetings and suggestions, since the start, and believed that the proposed bylaw, was a viable option. Last week, I viewed a newscast on Global, however that showed a more favourable opt, ion, than what was suggested here. Whereas, the Napanee town clerk is showing a map that clearly still allows encampments in our local parks, the community featured on Global has banned them from these parks, and give them a designated public property to live on. I believe the municipality was Peterborough area, and they too consulted their legal eagles, and it is perfectly acceptable to do this as long as another public property is designated. So if we are legal able to remove them from our parks, what is council waiting for????

There is a need for more transitional housing and better communication with the powers to be at social services in Napanee