Please note that our office will be closed on Monday, August 5, 2024 for the Civic Day Holiday.
We will be happy to assist you when our office reopens on Tuesday, August 6, 2024 at 8:30am.
The Hamilton Community Legal Clinic (HCLC)’s Queer Justice Project (QJP) wish a happy Pride to all Two-Spirit + LGBTQIAPGNC community members in Hamilton and around the world!
Each year, Pride is a time for celebration and reflection, but fundamentally, it is always important to remember that it started as a riot, a protest, and a movement. Increasingly, the origins of Pride seem more relevant to our present than perhaps they were for a period. We had seen steady progress made in terms of both legal reforms and social acceptance for most Queer identities.
However, this past year in particular, we have witnessed words and actions by Canadian governments and major political parties that signal that the progress we have enjoyed is now under immediate threat. Our communities have witnessed and been the target of new policies and laws that violate our human rights and jeopardize our safety, and there is reason to expect more may come in the future.
Sadly, this year, a recent Global News article published on May 25, 2024, titled “CSIS Warns Some LGBTQ2 Events, Venues May Face Threats from ‘Lone Actors’,” highlights an alarming trend. The article recounts a harrowing incident at the University of Waterloo, where a hate-motivated attack during a gender studies class injured two students and a professor. This brutal act was a premeditated assault driven by hatred towards gender expression and gender identity.
The Two-Spirit and LGBTQIAPGNC communities are uniting with renewed determination and resilience. In response to escalating threats and hostility, communities are taking decisive and thoughtful actions on multiple fronts. Communities are countering the spread of harmful false narratives, launching legal challenges against discriminatory government actions, and bolstering security measures to safeguard Queer events. Additionally, they are organizing protests and counter-protests, standing firm against the rising tide of human rights violations, hate and hostility. Just as they (we) have always done, we are confronting adversity with solidarity and unwavering courage.
Through it all, the spirit and joy of Queer communities will always shine through. Hate will not be allowed to define us, and nor does the seemingly constant need to struggle for our own liberation. Pride is a reminder of the where we have been, those we have lost, what there is still to do. We have the right to live our lives in joy and love, including in this moment.
This year, we also want to acknowledge all other struggles for liberation across the world. Queerness spans all of human experience, and intersects with every other possible identity at some point. As a result, every struggle for liberation and equality is a Queer struggle as well. Our communities overwhelmingly recognize that, and it is why our communities often demonstrate truly beautiful acts of solidarity across movements. Queerness rights are human rights.
We are powerful, and so let this year’s Pride serve as a rallying cry as well. In our own struggles for peace and equality, and in solidarity with Two-Spirit + LGBTQIAPGNC around the world who face considerable threats, torture and criminalization. We will be free, we will be equal, we will be safe, and we will be Proud.
Thank you to the Attila Csany Inquest Jury for their 21 recommendations. “Housing first” needs to be the approach for Health Care and Residential Care Facilities.
The HCLC thanks the Jury for the scope and depth of their provided recommendations. We also share the belief that more work can and should be done. In the next few months, we will be working towards ensuring the recommendations are implemented, with many of them being directed at the City of Hamilton and the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. The 21 recommendations will be overseen and implemented by the coroner’s office, who will be tracking and following up with each of the listed parties. They will be working with us, the family, and all parties seeking to implement the recommendations, to ensure there is continued accountability for the work we have all done over the course of this inquests.
Recommendations from the Inquest Jury for Attila Csanyi
Thank you again for everyone’s hard work and dedication to the Coroner’s Inquest into the Death of Attila Csanyi.
The following content was written by Aoife Cummins for the Global Health Student Blog (McMaster University).
“On October 2nd, 2022, Marcus Charles was leaving work when he experienced an epileptic seizure. Emergency services were called and shortly after, Charles was tased by Hamilton police and charged with three counts of assault. For over a year, Charles fought to have these charges dropped, while advocating for mandatory epilepsy and seizure response training for law enforcement.”
“In the most recent instalment of the Global Health Seminar Series, Gachi Issa, the Black Justice Coordinator at the Hamilton Community Legal Clinic, shared Marcus Charles’s story. Throughout her presentation, she illustrated the holistic and longitudinal consequences of anti-Black racism within and beyond the Hamilton context, urging students and faculty to recognize this phenomenon as a public health crisis.”
“Shortly after Issa’s presentation, Marcus Charles’ charges were officially dropped, marking a step in the right direction. However, in highlighting this victory, we must not forget the scars this event has left on our community or the unchanged systems that allowed it to happen.”
Read more at: https://globalhealth.healthsci.mcmaster.ca/stop-cutting-the-story-short-re-framing-anti-black-racism-as-a-public-health-issue/
Public Health is directed by the Ministry of Health to monitor food affordability. This is achieved by conducting a survey of food costs in a sample of Hamilton grocery stores using a tool called the Ontario Nutritious Food Basket (ONFB). Food costing was conducted in Hamilton in May 2023.
Results from 2023 have been posted on the City of Hamilton’s web page, Monitoring Affordability in Hamilton: https://www.hamilton.ca/people-programs/public-health/healthy-eating/monitoring-food-affordability-hamilton.
To monitor food affordability, monthly costs of food plus the average cost of market rental housing in Hamilton are compared to incomes for eight individual and family scenarios. The family/individual income scenarios can be downloaded by clicking on this document: Household scenarios comparing income to monthly expenses in Hamilton.
The methodology used for surveying food costs in Hamilton in 2022 was repeated in 2023 and therefore results are comparable. The cost of the ONFB in Hamilton for a reference family of four (2 adults and 2 school-aged children) rose from $1031/month in 2022 to $1110/month in 2023, representing an increase of approximately 8%.
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With the rising costs of food and rental prices, the HCLC will continue to, and encourages other individuals, organizations and stakeholders to empower our communities; especially those whose identities intersect with racial, gendered, sexual, disabled, and many other lines.
February 22, 2023
In the fall of 2021, five houseless individuals brought the City of Hamilton to Court over its ongoing practice of encampment evictions. The argument is a simple one: preventing houseless residents from erecting tents for shelter and protection where there are insufficient, accessible alternatives, violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Court accepted this argument in a recent decision out of the Region of Waterloo. We believe it is inevitable a court will rule the same way in Hamilton.
We provide the following update for our supporters and community stakeholders on what’s happening in Hamilton’s encampment litigation.
In June 2022, new Applicants were added to the lawsuit and a new Notice of Application was provided to the City. There are now 19 Applicants, all but two of whom remain unhoused.
We recognize that this litigation comes amidst an ongoing affordable housing crisis, where there simply are not enough affordable and permanent housing options. Hamilton also suffers from a chronic lack of emergency shelter beds. Of the beds that are available, many are not accessible or viable options for the people who need them most.
We have asked the Court to find that, in the absence of suitable alternatives, encampment evictions violate Charter rights, namely the right to life, liberty and security, and the right to equality without discrimination. The remedies we seek set parameters around the size and location of encampments in order to balance the interests of the housed and unhoused community. Specifically, we have requested that tents be allowed:
We provided the City of Hamilton with our evidence last year, including experts such as academics specializing in homelessness, the former UN Rapporteur on the Right to Housing, and physicians. We have also provided the City with evidence from front-line workers who have witnessed evictions and the lack of shelter spaces available in Hamilton.
At this time, we are waiting for the City of Hamilton to provide its own evidence, and to determine whether it intends to bring motions to exclude some of our expert evidence of front-line workers.
We are also participating in Case Management this week, where a judge will provide direction on the next steps for the case. We expect that after Case Management, we will be able to provide a further update about the schedule for the next steps in the lawsuit and whether the City will oppose our evidence. We also hope to be able to provide an update soon about whether the City intends to enter into settlement discussions and mediation. We remain hopeful that the City of Hamilton, with a new City Council, will be willing to resolve this lawsuit without continued litigation. Until that happens, we will continue to move the lawsuit forward.
February 1, 2023
Last Friday, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice released its long-awaited decision on the Region of Waterloo’s Application to remove individuals from a homeless encampment. The Court held that the Region could not remove people from the encampment without violating their right to “life, liberty and security of the person” guaranteed by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Superior Court made the following factual findings:
We have repeatedly raised the very same issues with the City of Hamilton and continue to do so in the Charter Application currently before the Superior Court about encampments in Hamilton. We are confident that when our case is heard, the Superior Court’s judgment in the Region of Waterloo case will be followed for Hamilton.
Until the City can provide encampment residents with immediate, permanent and supportive housing, any kind of encampment eviction violates the Charter. In addition to violating the rights to life, liberty and security of the person, encampment evictions discriminate against unhoused Indigenous and racialized individuals, women, people with disabilities, the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, and families. Until the City invests in and delivers permanent, affordable housing and related supports, the Charter requires the City to permit people to use tents and other survival materials.
Instead of complying with the Charter and taking meaningful and concrete steps to respond to these longstanding concerns, the City continues to rely on By-law enforcement and eviction, and on pouring resources into fruitless litigation that could be spent on affordable housing.
Indeed, the City has just recommended hiring two additional Municipal Law Enforcement Officers, at an annual cost of $277,000.00, and two Hamilton Police Services officers at an annual cost of $268,646.00 (see agenda item 10.4). Policing continues to be a violent and inappropriate solution to the lack of affordable housing. We oppose it unequivocally.
The City’s own Report arising from consultation sessions states “encampment evictions have profoundly negative impact on people’s physical and mental well-being.” The Superior Court reached the same conclusion. It remains to be seen whether Council will finally acknowledge these profound harms, move away from By-law enforcement, and focus on the creation of affordable housing.
The Hamilton Community Legal Clinic, Hāki Chambers Global, Ross & McBride, and the Community Legal Clinic of York Region, continue to challenge the City’s discriminatory approach to encampments and unhoused residents in Court, until such time as Council takes steps to remedy the harm the City has caused to houseless residents.
For media inquiries please contact:
Sujit Choudhry: (416) 436-3679, (917) 683-1380
Sharon Crowe: (437) 218-2364
Ashley Wilson: (905) 572-5833
The Hamilton Community Legal Clinic and the Queer Justice Project are extremely saddened and deeply concerned by the news of the death of a Queer community member at Redeemer University.
Please find our full statement linked here: Statement-Letter
CW: The contents of the statement may be triggering, as they address suicide. Exercise care while reading and engaging.
Press ReleaseFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 28, 2022
PRESS RELEASE
Earlier this year, Constable Brian Wren was charged with assault. Police service said it received a video from a business and a citizen after police arrested a suspect in a stolen vehicle investigation. Police said the officer’s use of force led to a criminal investigation.
Const. Brian Wren was immediately suspended and now also faces an assault charge. His first court appearance was July 21.
The individual assaulted and harmed is a member of the City of Hamilton Indigenous community. Members of the Indigenous community are very concerned that this appears not to be an isolated incident. This is the second time this has happened to this individual. The Hamilton Regional Indian Friendship Centre has justice related programs and reports that these types of allegations of aggressive police behaviours are frequent. This particular assault needs to be taken seriously, and major changes need to be made to not only protect our Indigenous relatives but also help protect our relatives of colour, members of various other ethnic backgrounds and members of other marginalized groups.
A full press release will take place on Tuesday August 2, 2022 at 1230pm in front of Hamilton Police Services downtown central location at 155 King William Street, Hamilton Ontario with members of Indigenous leadership, Indigenous community members and our friends and allies.
In solidarity.
The Hamilton Community Legal Clinic continues to advocate to protect the constitutional rights of Hamilton’s unhoused population in the courts against the City of Hamilton’s by-laws related to encampments.
Last week, Hamilton City Council approved a motion directing Hamilton’s parks by-law be enforced to remove encampments within 24 to 48 hours. City Council approved a second motion to allocate roughly $417,000.00 to hire 4 additional Municipal by-law officers to enforce the encampment by-law 24/7.
This hardline approach comes only a few months after City Council passed a motion proposed by Councillor Nrinder Nann to convene a roundtable committee with a focus on “human-rights based, health-focused” approach to housing which recognized that an “enforcement led response” wouldn’t solve homelessness or lead to healing community relationships. The roundtable has never been convened.
Enforcing the parks by-law does not respond to the needs of Hamilton’s unhoused population, because it does not create shelter or housing – a view shared by health professionals, shelter workers, and other providing services to the unhoused. The City has taken the position that when someone is living on the street and unable to obtain shelter, that they will strip them of their essentials for human survival, such as their tent, blankets, clothing, sentimental items and more, leaving them empty-handed with nothing but their clothing on their backs and nowhere to go.
Homelessness in Hamilton is growing worse. A growing housing crisis has pushed precariously housed tenants out of their homes. COVID-19 has brought unique challenges for many communities in Hamilton, including job loss or income reduction, and an increased cost of living.
Last fall, the HCLC filed commenced legal proceedings arguing that City’s ongoing efforts to dismantle encampments violate the Charter. Our case will be heard sometime in early 2023.
We are also excited to announce that we have two new co-counsel joining our legal team: Wade Poziomka (@WPoziomka) from Ross & McBride (@rossmcbridellp), and Sujit Choudhry (@sujit_choudhry) from Choudhry Law. Wade is a well-known and respected local human rights and employment lawyer and was previously involved with the 2020 encampment litigation. Sujit has a broad public law practice on questions of constitutional law, administrative law, public international law and international human rights law.
We must all work together to address the housing crisis and ending homelessness. We encourage the City to take a human-rights and housing-first approach to supporting the diverse needs of its unhoused population. Greater enforcement without increased resources and support for the unhoused population will only further stigmatize, criminalize and traumatize those living in our community’s greenspaces.
A copy of our statement has been attached here: HCLC Encampment Litigation
Despite human rights being protected by federal, provincial and territorial laws, racist and discriminatory stereotypes about people of African Descent permeate contemporary society and disproportionally impact the social, economic, educational, and health outcomes of Black men, women and children. Whether they are descendants of those who were enslaved or recent immigrants, people of African Descent are united by a shared, lived experience with anti-Black racism. It is within this tension that the Hamilton Community Legal Clinic launched Together We Rise!
The Together We Rise advisory committee is made up of a maximum of 12 Black community members. The advisory committee actively participates in directing and creating events, facilitates long term visioning and meets regularly. The advisory committee works with the Black Justice Coordinator to realize a more just and equitable environment for Black Hamiltonians. We encourage youth (ages 15-29), self-identified Black elders (age 55 and up) and all Black community members from different walks of life to join this committee.
To read more about Together We Rise: https://hamiltonjustice.ca/en/community-justice/black-justice/
