Long awaited report on chaotic clash at Halifax tent encampment released

A law firm released its long awaited review into the chaotic clash between protestors and police at a Halifax tent encampment on Friday.

The 116-page report examined the tent encampment evictions on Aug. 18, 2021, in Halifax offered 37 recommendations for the Halifax Board of Police Commissioners, Halifax Regional Police (HRP), and Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM).

The report, onducted by Toronto based law firm Cooper, Sandler, Shime & Schwartzentruber, was led by criminal defense lawyers Jonathan Shime and Wayne Cunningham, and was critical of several decisions by police and HRM leadership.

The report suggests that by the time police and Halifax city staff arrived at the Old Memorial Library that morning, they had already successfully cleared three different encampments across the city with relative ease.

However, "a last minute decision" to clear the encampment on Spring Garden Road was one of several poor choices made that day, according to the independent report.

The report reveals several police officers and HRM staff suggested delaying the eviction, given the time. It was 8:30 a.m. and the city was already “waking up.” Traffic and activity around the area would make it challenging to clear the encampment.

But the report says senior officers ignored those concerns and pushed ahead with the eviction plan, a decision that proved disastrous.

Word spread quickly on social media and dozens if not hundreds gathered at the site to observe and protest the removal of tents and wooden structures.

Tensions escalated quickly as verbal insults led to physical pushing and shoving and objects being thrown Police used pepper spray to disperse the crowds.

The report confirmed several people, including civilians and police, were injured and 25 arrests were made.

The review highlights the lack of communication between the police leadership and board of commissioners, which was unaware of the planned evictions, although some board members, who were also city councillors, had some general knowledge of the plan.

Although the Police Act limits the board's involvement in the day-to-day police operations, the report stressed the board should be exercising stronger oversight and should have knowledge of significant police operations beforehand.

The review recommends the board be more assertive in overseeing police operations to ensure greater police accountability.

The recommendations call for more assertiveness in following policies but also encouraged the board to come up new regulations and tighten their own regulations. It emphasized the need for all parties to take a more humane approach in addressing the needs of homeless people.

In terms of policing, the report calls on the board to strengthen its oversight and to hold police more accountable in terms of its policies and practices around the use of force and ensuring only properly trained officers can carry and use pepper spray.

The report credits new approaches learned by all parties and the significant step taken to more humanely deal with the unhoused and supporting individuals at encampments.

The final recommendation suggests the board, HRP and HRM provide a public update on the implementation of these recommendations by June 1, 2025.

The Halifax Police Board of Commissioners will meet next week, where the report will be presented to members and it’s expected police and city officials will address its findings.

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