Ontario Superior Judge rules homeless can't be moved to make way for Transit Hub

Last week (Thursday, May 21, 2026) -- an Ontario Superior Court judge ruled that the Region of Waterloo could not remove homeless individuals to make way to construct a new Transit Hub unless the Region asks people to move if they provided an alternative legal encampment site or a tenting protocol, similar to the cities of London and Thunder Bay, Ontario as that would be inconsistent with the Canadian Charter of Rights/Freedoms (Section 7 - right of liberty, life) - more here

There have been similar court rulings here in BC -- in 2021, a BC Supreme Court Justice ruled against the City of Prince George where the City there wanted to dismantle a homeless camp in a downtown industrial area but was ultimately told the City of Prince George could do so, when there was suitable housing options available for the homeless -- more here.  In addition, there have been similar BC Supreme Court rulings including the case of Abbotsford (City) v. Shantz in 2015 

With homeless challenges (and related public safety concerns) impacting on a number of BC Municipalities such as Quesnel/Williams Lake and with BC Local Elections for Mayors/Councillors' coming up in October of 2026 -- it will be interesting to see how court rulings like the 2015/2021 BC Supreme Court decisions as well as the recent Ontario Superior Court decision might impact on incumbents' chances at re-election in BC Municipalities in October 2026 ....