Poilievre promises to let police dismantle encampments, arrest occupants

Peter Zimonjic · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 23, 2025 11:48 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 minutes ago

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is promising to cleanable up Canada's streets and parks by giving constabulary the powerfulness to dismantle encampments and apprehension their occupants for mounting up tents and shelters to unrecorded in. 

"Public spaces indispensable beryllium harmless for everyone. We volition instrumentality backmost our streets and reconstruct bid successful our communities," Poilievre said during a run halt successful Hamilton connected Wednesday.

"We volition springiness radical that are presently trapped successful these atrocious circumstances a pathway to a amended life," helium added. 

The Conservative person is pledging to amend the Criminal Code to springiness constabulary the powerfulness to apprehension radical for discouraging the wide nationalist from utilizing oregon moving done nationalist spaces. 

The archetypal portion of his announcement, which was besides included successful the Conservative level released Tuesday, pledges to people radical for "setting up impermanent structures, including tents." 

WATCH | Poilievre proposes much powerfulness for police, judges to code structure encampments:

Poilievre is besides promising to springiness constabulary the powerfulness to dismantle encampments portion ensuring the radical who unrecorded successful them are connected with housing, addiction attraction and intelligence wellness services. This connection was not included successful Tuesday's platform. 

"We volition regenerate them with attraction centres afloat of anticipation and excitement for radical acceptable to commencement their lives," helium said. 

Poilievre's announcement does not supply details of however helium would link stateless radical with lodging and treatment, nor however overmuch that would cost. His level says lone that helium volition present "a 'housing first' approach to eliminating homelessness." 

The Conservative level promises $800 cardinal implicit 4 years to dainty 50,000 Canadians for addiction. 

Dismantling encampments

Poilievre besides highlighted his antecedently announced program to let judges to enforce mandatory cause attraction for radical charged with illegally occupying nationalist spaces, oregon who are recovered successful possession of drugs for idiosyncratic use. 

It's not wide however Poilievre's program differs from nationalist bid offences already successful the Criminal Code. Police presently person the powerfulness to apprehension "any idiosyncratic whom helium finds committing [a] breach of the peace," oregon who the constabulary serviceman "believes is astir to articulation in, oregon renew, [a] breach of the peace."

The ineligible changes giving constabulary the powerfulness to dismantle encampments have already faced absorption successful the courts. 

In January 2023, an Ontario Superior Court justness ruled that Waterloo Region could not usage a municipal bylaw to evict radical surviving successful an encampment successful Kitchener because that bylaw was deemed to beryllium successful usurpation of Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. 

The justice said a deficiency of structure spaces means the bylaw infringed upon Charter rights.

In response, 13 Ontario mayors wrote to Premier Doug Ford asking him to usage the notwithstanding clause to override a tribunal determination preventing municipalities from clearing stateless encampments if their shelters are full.

The notwithstanding clause, Section 33 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, gives parliaments successful Canada the powerfulness to override definite portions of the Charter for five-year presumption erstwhile passing legislation.

The clause tin lone override definite sections of the Charter including sections 2 and 7-15, which woody with cardinal freedoms, ineligible rights and equality rights, but can't beryllium utilized to override antiauthoritarian rights.

Once invoked, Section 33 prevents immoderate judicial reappraisal of the authorities successful question. After 5 years, the clause ceases to person immoderate effect unless it's re-enacted.

In December, Ford's authorities introduced authorities making it amerciable to acceptable up "any structure, specified arsenic a tent, utilized arsenic a dwelling successful a nationalist space," but Bill 242, the Safer Municipalities Act, failed to walk the Ontario Legislature earlier Ford called a provincial predetermination successful February. 

The week earlier introducing Bill 242, Ford wrote an unfastened missive to the mayors who asked him to usage the notwithstanding clause, telling them helium did not expect to usage the clause but was prepared to bash so. 

"Should the courts interfere with our shared extremity of efficaciously addressing and clearing retired encampments utilizing these enhanced tools, with your support, our authorities is afloat prepared to usage the notwithstanding clause," Ford wrote. 

Poilievre's announcement did not supply immoderate item connected what his effect would beryllium to a law situation to his encampment removal law, but helium has expressed a willingness to usage the notwithstanding clause in different instances.