Dear city of cambridge (CC: Region of waterloo)
When Politics Fail: Chasing Evictions Instead of Solutions
Joining the Conversation:
Everyday Politics with Laura Mae Lindo
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I had the priviledge of joining Laura Pin on Laura Mae Lindo’s ‘Everyday Politics’ show, where we unpacked some of the findings from our Realizing the Right project’s most recent report. On this page, you'll find more information about the report and project, along with the recorded content from the show, written material, and information resources connected to the topics we discussed.
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Everyday Politics
Conversations about the everyday politics that affect our lives. About Dr. Laura Mae LindoDr. Laura Mae Lindo (she/her/elle) is a respected activist, educator, and former politician who holds both a Masters and PhD in Education. Dr. Lindo is a knowledgeable advocate for the rights of womxn and girls, a respected ally to vulnerable communities, and, most importantly, a courageous public speaker, ready, willing, and able to speak to issues often left unaddressed....
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Homelessness, Encampments,
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"Realizing the Right" (about the project and its report)
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“Realizing the Right: Municipal Policy Responses to Encampments” is a multi-year community engaged project focused on understanding how municipalities in Ontario are responding to encampments.
The goal of this report is to provide guidance on what a human rights-based approach to homeless encampments might look like at the municipal level, as well as assess to what extent existing municipal policy responses reflect a rights-based approach. Existing high-level human rights frameworks set out important principles, but there remains a significant gap in how those principles translate into day-to-day municipal practice. At the same time, official discourse continues to privilege housed perspectives, while the voices of unhoused people are too often absent. This work, by the project and it's team, seeks to address both of these gaps through its community-engaged approach, combining policy and bylaw review with direct input from over 100 surveys conducted across two jurisdictions with people with direct experience of living unsheltered.
Grounded in the work of the Federal Housing Advocate, this work advances a five-pillar framework: de-centering policing and law enforcement in encampment responses; clarifying municipal governance and interjurisdictional responsibilities; ensuring the meaningful participation of encampment residents in decisions that affect them; recognizing the distinct rights of Indigenous Peoples; and addressing conditions within encampments through the provision of basic services such as water, sanitation, electricity, and heat.
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As economic pressures (and 20 other things!) intensify, the strain on our systems deepens, further widening the gap between need and response. Service providers are left navigating impossible trade-offs, while those experiencing homelessness face prolonged instability and unmet basic needs. Without sufficient investment in both immediate supports and long-term housing solutions, the cycle continues - where delays compound harm, and systemic shortcomings effectively push people into, and keep them in, conditions of homelessness. In this context, we feel it is critical that these materials reach as wide an audience as possible - fostering informed, community-wide discussions that reflect the urgency and reality of homelessness everywhere right now.
What is homelessness?Homelessness refers to the situation in which a person lacks a stable, safe, and accessible place to live, along with the means or opportunity to obtain one. These situations are shaped by systemic and societal failures, including insufficient affordable housing, structural inequities, and the impacts of poverty, health challenges, and discrimination. For most people, homelessness is not a choice but a situation imposed by many intersecting factors.
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Love, compassion, and a whole lot of action!
(2021)
The differing experiences of homelessness in waterloo region
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The experience of homelessness varies significantly across different parts of the Region of Waterloo, this shaped in part by its complex governance structure of three cities and four townships under a dual-tier system. While the Region is the designated service manager locally, differences in local bylaws, practices and policy (within lower tier jurisdictions) and an uneven distribution of services and supports exist across the region. As a result, someone experiencing homelessness, for example, in Cambridge may face different rules, enforcement practices, and available supports than someone in Kitchener or Waterloo.
Rural areas and townships face distinct challenges as well - people can be harder to locate and outreach more difficult to sustain. Direct access to services in larger urban cores can also be significantly limited without a vehicle.
Additional information and resources:
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