Barrie Police and city by-law officials were back at Berczy Park on Tuesday as several tents that were tucked into a wooded area of a homeless encampment were removed.
"They were not removed in a respectful way," claimed Christine Nayler of Ryan's Hope, a not-for-profit organization that assists those experiencing homelessness and addiction. "They were slashed with knives and taken to a U-Haul truck that has now left the park full of people's belongings that are just going to be discarded into the garbage."
One encampment resident chased after the contractors yelling that they were taking "our bikes." The bicycles were placed in the back of the U-Haul truck.
The City of Barrie in a statement late Tuesday afternoon accused advocacy groups of interfering with clean-up operations at the park.
"Today, while Berczy Park remained posted as closed to allow for the ongoing cleanup from the encampment fire and maintenance of the park, advocacy groups were interfering with the city’s enforcement officers, the city’s contractor, and police. The advocacy groups were directing that tents and materials previously identified by the County of Simcoe and its outreach provider as abandoned, be given to them and have been occupying tents that have been abandoned."
The individuals were advised that their actions were obstructing, the park was closed and the actions could not continue, the city added.
"As a result of their ongoing actions, the advocacy groups have been issued notices of trespass, which will be actioned accordingly."
Barrie 360 was in the park when Christine Nayler of Ryan's Hope, a not-for-profit organization that assists those experiencing homelessness and addiction, and several supporters occupied one of the tents and refused to leave when asked to by city enforcement staff.
"They were trying to remove a tent earlier because nobody was physically occupying that tent at the moment. We stood or ground. We were told we were trespassing in the park. We are standing up for people's Charter of Rights and Freedoms," said Nayler.
Eventually, the group left the tent peacefully.
The city issued notices to nearly two dozen people living in the encampment last week, giving them 72 hours to correct several infractions including placing debris on city property in contravention of the nuisance by-law, fouling the land by urinating and defecating, and camping within a public park, contrary to the parks use by-law.
Police and by-law officials arrived at the park on Monday to carry out the order.
"The city plans to issue notices of trespass to individuals who do not identify any unique needs and continue to be in contravention of the city's by-laws," according to a statement to Barrie360 from the city on Monday afternoon. "The majority of the individuals within the park have accepted the offers of shelter. In addition to shelter, the County of Simcoe has arranged for temporary secure storage for personal belongings," the city stated in an email to Barrie 360 on Monday.
In a further update late Tuesday afternoon, the city confirmed there were a few unhoused individuals who have unique needs that the county and its contracted outreach provider are continuing to address.
"Those individuals have not been issued notices of trespass." the city stated.
Staff from the Busby Centre were at Berczy Park Tuesday accessing the needs of individuals who remained at the encampment.
Nayler said she was unaware of how many people were still living in the encampment, or if some were new individuals in the park that had not received notices from the city.
"There are people still here because this is the only place that is an option for them. We have people recovering from illnesses that have just been released from the hospital, and recovering from injuries."
A man could be seen in a wheelchair outside one of the tents.
As of mid-Tuesday afternoon, at least six tents had been removed from the park grounds, but another 10-12 tents remained in two separate locations.
The County of Simcoe, which is responsible for the shelter system in the region including Barrie, said on Monday that all but five individuals living outdoors in the Berczy encampment had confirmed housing options.
"The shelter system and our motel voucher program are jointly being utilized," the county said in its email to Barrie 360.
Sara Peddle, Busby Centre executive director, said last week that the county was opening 20 additional shelter beds within the system in Barrie.
Today, the county confirmed to Barrie 360 that the additional beds will remain available without a timeline.
"These have been created through the utilization of the motel voucher program and it has been implemented through the planned budget," according to the county.
By mid-afternoon, the U-Haul truck packed with materials left the park grounds, along with police and by-law officials.
Nayler said her group was at the park to "protect the residents."
"I asked a police officer if residents who did not want to leave their tents would be physically removed and the officer said that would not happen."
The city said in its statement on Monday that camping in a public park is not safe for anyone.
"The city has had many complaints related to encampments," officials stated. "There have also been several fires in encampments this year including two fires this past weekend, one at Berczy Park."
The public can track the number of people housed in shelters in Barrie and the region through a data dashboard managed by the County of Simcoe:
https://gisportal.simcoe.ca/arcgis/apps/sites/#/county-of-simcoe-data-portal
In spring 2023, Barrie City Council approved spending $1.65 million on various initiatives dealing with safety in the downtown and homelessness. This included an investment in a warming and cooling centre for vulnerable residents, family reunification services, enhanced breakfast and meal programs, and a shuttle program to end the release and drop off of prisoners who leave the Central North Correctional Centre (CNC) and are left at the Barrie bus terminal.
