ONTARIO 

'A win' for encampment residents as Cambridge withdraws eviction notices

CBC
Thu, May 9, 2024 

It was not immediately clear what led to the City of Canbridge withdrawing eviction notices to residents at the Branchton Road and Dundas Street encampment and a city spokesperson said they could not comment. (Carmen Groleau/CBC - image credit)


The City of Cambridge has rescinded eviction notices it had issued to residents of an encampment near the intersection of Branchton Road and Dundas Street, a representative for the residents says.

Shannon Down, executive director of Waterloo Region Community Legal Services (WRCLS), said she was notified about the decision through the city's legal counsel on May 2.

The eviction notices earlier this year had led Down's organization filing a motion for an injunction with the Superior Court.


"The act of rescinding those notices means that we no longer have to bring our motion for the injunction [now] that the city will not be evicting them," Down told CBC News.

Down said she has no information on what led the City of Cambridge to withdraw the eviction notices.

"All we really know is that ... they are rescinding the notices that they initially provided our clients and that they will not be requesting that they leave that site or removing them if they don't leave voluntarily," she said.

When contacted, a spokesperson for the city said in order "to protect the integrity of this active legal process," they could not comment on the notices.

"We are committed to working with the Region of Waterloo and our community partners to explore more effective housing solutions that support the overall health and wellness of our city," spokesperson Allison Jones wrote in an email.

Shannon Down is the executive director of Waterloo Region Community Legal Services. She's photographed in downtown Kitchener, Ont., on Wednesday, January 18, 2023. The legal service has developed a toolkit for landlords.

Shannon Down is the executive director of Waterloo Region Community Legal Services. She says she was notified about the decision to rescind the eviction notices through the city's legal counsel on May 2. (Kate Bueckert/CBC)

In a news release on Wednesday, WRCLS said even though Cambridge's reason for rescinding the eviction notices is not known it appears the city is following the guidance set out by the Superior Court in the decision in The Regional Municipality of Waterloo v. Persons unknown and to be Ascertained, 2023 ONSC 670, and respecting the Charter rights of the Branchton Encampment residents.

Court documents show the residents who took the city to court are Michal Nanos, 52, and Joseph Micallef, 68, who have both lived in the Branchton encampment for about eight months after being evicted from another, much larger encampment on Main Street in Cambridge in August 2023.

There are 11 other residents in addition to Nanos and Micallef who also currently live in the Branchton encampment, located on city owned land.

'A win' for residents: Down

Down said the withdrawal of the notices is "definitely a win" for people who live in the encampment.

"Our clients are obviously very pleased to have this not hanging over their heads. It's obviously very stressful for them. They're vulnerable people who really … were facing an eviction in circumstances where they really didn't have any other options of where they could go, Down said.

"This is a tremendous relief for them and we're really pleased that the city has decided to rescind the eviction notices."

In light of the city's decision, Down said they will be withdrawing the injunction motion. However, she said there is still an underlying claim.

"Our clients did lose some belongings, so part of our claim was for compensation for some of the items that were disposed of by bylaw [officers] prior to the eviction notices … so we're still hoping to resolve that part of it," Down said.

WRCLS said it would welcome an opportunity to work with the City of Cambridge on the issue of a human rights-based approach to homelessness and encampments.