MEDIA RELEASE
March 12, 2025
Public release of Notice of Appeal of Superior Court decision on evictions from homeless encampments
(HAMILTON, March 12, 2025) – The Hamilton Community Legal Clinic, in partnership with the Community Legal Clinic of York Region, is publicly releasing the Notice of Appeal of the Dec. 23, 2024, decision of the Superior Court of Justice to dismiss the Application of 14 individuals who have experienced encampment evictions from public property.
Publicly releasing this information coincides with the Court of Appeal of Ontario officially accepting the Notice of Appeal effective March 10, meaning that the appeal will move forward.
The appeal is filed on behalf of the 14 individuals who have experienced encampment evictions. We maintain that the evictions violated the 14 individuals’ right to life, liberty and security under Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. They further violated the Applicants’ equality rights under Section 15 of the Charter, because the evictions had a disproportionate impact on women, people with disabilities, and Indigenous peoples.
Court decisions play an important role in defining or reforming the legal and constitutional boundaries that address the rights of citizens, including unsheltered and unhoused individuals. Â When an error in the interpretation of the law is found in a decision, an appeal is the next step, a necessary checkpoint to ensure court decisions uphold the constitutional rights of its citizens.
The full notice of appeal is attached below.
