CCLA Urges Ontario Premier To Respect the Rights of Vulnerable People in Ontario

TORONTO —  The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) is urging the Government of Ontario not to use the notwithstanding clause to deprive vulnerable people of their fundamental rights and freedoms.

The Ontario Premier has called on Ontario’s Big City Mayors to request in writing that the provincial government invoke the notwithstanding clause to enact legislation that would override fundamental freedoms of vulnerable unhoused people in Ontario.

Twelve mayors have since responded to his call. The measures proposed include expanding mandatory treatment to individuals with addiction issues, and criminalizing encampments residents through a new “repetitive trespass” provision.

The issues posed by the affordability, homelessness, and substance use crises cause significant harms, particularly for individuals from vulnerable and marginalized groups. Attempts to solve these crises cannot be at the expense of the fundamental rights and freedoms guaranteed to everybody in Canada. All levels of government must work together to find meaningful and rights-respecting solutions to address the challenges faced by unhoused people and people suffering from addiction.

“Mandatory treatment directly impacts the rights to liberty and security, and raises significant equality issues. Infringements of these basic rights must be taken extremely seriously, and their reasonability must be subject to the court’s scrutiny,” says Anaïs Bussieres McNicoll, Director of the Fundamental Freedoms Program at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

“The notwithstanding clause should never be used to circumvent normal court process. The public deserves to know whether governments are infringing on Charter rights.”

“The creation of new ‘repetitive trespass’ provisions will criminalize unhoused people and people living in poverty, who are already among the most vulnerable members of our society,” says Harini Sivalingam, Director of the Equality Program at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

“The notwithstanding clause should never be used to weaken or harm legal protections for marginalized and vulnerable communities.”

Read CCLA’s letter here.