Prince Albert city council wants a clearer picture of what can be done about overnight camping in parts of the city, including the riverbank, Second Avenue West and the Cornerstone area.
Council voted 8-1 Monday to have administration investigate the feasibility of prohibiting overnight camping in designated areas and report back on existing bylaws, gaps in those rules and whether further restrictions can be enforced.
Coun. Bryce Laewetz brought forward the motion, saying he wants to know what existing bylaws already cover and where additional rules may be needed.
“I would like to see a proposed bylaw prohibiting overnight camping in those areas, and in that report, provide us the areas of overlapping bylaws,” Laewetz said.
Coun. Daniel Brown questioned why a prohibition could not simply apply across the city, except on private property.
Laewetz said a blanket prohibition on sleeping or camping outdoors could create legal complications.
“I think that there is some complications with blanketing the entire city and saying no sleeping outside, no camping,” he said. “I think that there is some legal issues that we would run into with that.”
Community Safety and Well-Being Manager Anna Dinsdale said several existing bylaws already address the issue.
The City’s Recreation Facilities and Public Parks Use Bylaw addresses camping and obstructions on city-owned land, while the Traffic Bylaw prohibits obstructions on sidewalks, boulevards and other city property.
Dinsdale said administration can bring those rules together in a report and identify any gaps.
Coun. Blake Edwards said the report should also address enforcement if bylaws already exist but camping continues.
“Making bylaws is good, makes us all feel good, and I get the spirit of the motion,” Edwards said. “But how do we enforce it?”
The City is already responding to encampments through a separate strategy that council backed earlier this year. The approach brings together outreach services, bylaw enforcement, police, fire and other agencies, with the response depending on the size and risk of an encampment.
The Daily Herald has also observed an encampment around a public gazebo along the riverbank. The gazebo has since been fenced off while work is underway, although it is unclear whether the work is related to camping or homelessness.
Dinsdale told council during that discussion that the strategy is meant as an emergency response to encampments, rather than a long-term solution to homelessness.
The legal question around removing encampments has also come before council.
During discussions about the permanent shelter last October, Brown asked City Solicitor Mitchell Holash whether court decisions limiting encampment removals would apply in Saskatchewan.
Holash said courts in Ontario and British Columbia had found that removing encampments when shelter is unavailable could violate rights under Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. He said he was not aware of a similar challenge in Saskatchewan, but said the reasoning from those cases could potentially be applied here.
Coun. Troy Parenteau also questioned whether new restrictions could affect private properties where businesses allow legitimate overnight stays in recreational vehicles.
Administration said those situations could be considered in the report.
Laewetz amended his motion to include the probability of enforcement and the option of excluding private properties that offer overnight camping as part of their services.
Council approved the amended motion 8-1, with Dawn Kilmer opposed.
arjun.pillai@paherald.sk.ca
