STOP BYLAW MADNESS

City hall needs to stop enacting bylaws that won’t survive a court challenge.

The proposed bylaw designating only one location for overnight “sheltering” is not well thought out. The first time it is applied to someone tenting overnight in any park in town, an advocate/human rights group will go to court and win.

Imagine forcing a homeless person from the Hart Highway area to make his/ her way downtown to an unsafe site to “shelter” overnight. The semi-permanent encampment at Millennium Park can be removed with existing rules/bylaws/laws. Giving “permission” to the persons at that encampment to move to Moccasin Flats will guarantee they never have to leave, even though the existing rules only allow “sheltering” overnight.

The city’s actions at Moccasin Flats have annoyed the courts/judges enough. Enforce the “overnight sheltering only” rule at Millennium Park. Do not tell them where they can set up encampments. Encampments are illegal.