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Legal proceedings between City of Kingston and Belle Park encampment residents begin

A wooden surface with a gavel and papers in the foreground, with a person sitting at the table writng on the papers visible in the backdrop.
The Belle Park encampment case continues. Photo by Ekaterina Bolovtsova on pexels.com
Christena Lawrie - CFRC - Kingston • ON | 12-07-2023
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On Monday, legal proceedings began regarding the City of Kingston’s request for an order from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to evict residents of the Belle Park encampment and other similar sites.

Conversations regarding the encampment at Belle Park and temporary structures in other areas, such as around the Integrated Care Hub, have ramped up in the last year, with trespass notices issued to those living in tents and other temporary structures in March. Though notices were issued in March, the municipality has not since taken any action to forcibly remove anyone. The City has instead stated they are aiming to facilitate what they are calling a peaceful transition.

The city announced their intention of taking this issue to court in early June, seeking a court order to remove those living in the encampment.

In the letter announcing this decision, it stated, “There have been serious incidents occurring at the encampment, which pose health and safety concerns for the remaining encampment residents, service providers and surrounding neighbours.”

While the city says it has enough resources and services to support the community as they are forced to vacate Belle Park and similar sites, encampment residents and their supporters remain skeptical.

The City of Kingston has hired Lenczner Slaght LLP, a Toronto law firm, to defend their case, while residents of the encampment have retained the services of the Kingston Community Legal Clinic.

Monday’s proceedings did not delve deep into the case itself, but mostly focused on setting dates for future negotiations and decision-making. It was decided that the issue will be taken up in full in court in late October.

But while no pivotal decisions regarding the fate of the encampment were made on Monday, an interim order banning any fires without a permit at the encampment was put in place. City officials were also given authorization to extinguish any unlawful fires on site. The Kingston Community Legal Clinic will have the opportunity on Aug. 23 to make their case against the fire ban.

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