Advocates call for moratorium on tent evictions in Halifax
As many as 150 people gathered at Halifax City Hall on Saturday calling for a ban on tent evictions for those experiencing homelessness in the city.
"The police are continuing to harass those living in tents, even as there is nowhere else to go," Drew Moore of P.A.D.S. (Permanent, Accessible, Dignified and Safer) Community Network, said in a release.
"Without a clear directive from the city in the form of a bylaw change that decriminalizes living in parks, the city is making a bad situation worse."
Last month the municipality ordered the removal of several temporary shelters, causing tensions among Halifax's ongoing housing crisis to boil over.
As a result, police clashed with protesters, most notably on the grounds of the old Halifax library on Spring Garden Road.
Following the shelter removals, the city paid for a group of people to stay at Dartmouth’s Comfort Hotel. But last week, four people staying at a Dartmouth hotel were asked to leave with less than a day's notice.
"Promises of an immediate, indefinite solution in the form of hotel stays led by the city has failed, shelters are full, and the police continue to evict and harass people facing homelessness throughout the city," reads the release.
"Everywhere except people’s park, where residency has been growing at a rapid rate."
Asaf Rashid, a Halifax lawyer who spoke at Saturday's rally, is calling for an end to forced evictions.
“People residing in homeless encampments and elsewhere have been denied meaningful access to affordable housing and deserve meaningful consultation. Any evictions from any of the encampments should be considered illegal, as people are only there out of necessity during this crisis,” Rashid said in a release.
Rally organizers say community members and neighbours have been coming out in support of people who are unhoused, providing food, hot meals and supplies.
"But with the days stretching into weeks, and winter on the horizon, guaranteed safety and renewed discussions can no longer wait,' says the release.
“This is a complicated situation and finding a solution will take time, but the city has the ability to make a difference today by immediately declaring a moratorium on evictions while a solution is found,” said Moore.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
For more than two decades, the unknown victim was nicknamed "Midtown Jane Doe" because she was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City. But this week, investigators finally revealed her identity.