BARRIE, ONT. — It’s been a disappointing few days, weeks and even months for Fr. Larry Léger, pastor of St. Mary’s Parish in Barrie, Ont.
The most recent disappointment stems from the city’s new crackdown on homeless encampments, with Mayor Alex Nuttall declaring a state of emergency in the city north of Toronto to deal with the spread of homeless encampments and the lawlessness associated with them being felt by those on and off the streets.
“The news doesn’t sit well with us at all, and it really feels like the mayor is blaming the homeless for their situation and not addressing the real source of the problem — the lack of any sort of building of affordable housing for the last 30 years from the federal and provincial governments,” Léger said.
At a Sept. 9 news conference, Nuttal said current efforts to address the increased presence of encampments are “not moving fast enough.” He said a state of emergency was necessary to reclaim Barrie’s “streets, boulevards, parks, squares, feeling of safety and order.” Nuttall said the city plans to dismantle the encampments while offering help to inhabitants through various support services.
While the talk of providing support may seem encouraging, St. Mary’s pastor said there are simply not enough beds to accommodate those who need them. He also voiced his displeasure with some of the loopholes surrounding affordable housing.
“You can call a mixed-use development affordable housing if there are options like a bachelor unit. A studio unit that is $200 less than a single bedroom unit. Market rent right now in Barrie is over $2,000, so if you have a unit at $1,800, that’s considered affordable if it’s a studio,” he said.
“That is not affordable; in fact, that is nowhere near affordable for somebody who has been living on the street.”
Barrie’s action comes following the murder of two men at a Victoria Street homeless encampment earlier this year. Police have since said the man arrested once lived in the same encampment as the victims.
The mayor’s declaration comes after the passing of Ontario’s Safer Municipalities Act in June. The act gives both police and municipal officials “tools they need to end encampments and clean up our parks and public spaces.”
On Sept. 11, Léger said the city had begun clearing out a visible collection of tents around the Busby Centre, a local social services hub, that morning.
Amid recent government decisions, St. Mary’s is continuing to stand firm in its long-standing tradition of responding to the needs of the vulnerable members of society.
“Our advocacy team will continue working with both feet, as it were. We’re not going to hop around on one foot and just provide food, but we are going to use both feet by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, and we’re going to combat structures and systems that systemically prevent people from achieving a dignified housing situation,” Léger said.
Still, the reality has been disheartening to see. In April, parish staff and parishioners joined St. Mary’s Social Justice and Advocacy Committee to write nearly 1,800 letters advising local and provincial politicians to address the growing crisis of housing affordability. Léger said no politician has answered. And when more than 400 people joined the parish for its first housing symposium, only one city councilor attended.
St. Mary’s extensive work towards supporting the local unhoused community, including its historical participation in Out from the Cold, current Breakfast To Go program and other efforts backed by its advocacy committee, circles back to the shared duty of Catholics.
“What does the Gospel call us to? It calls us not to invite the people who can repay us to the banquet, but to invite those who cannot. At the table of the Lord every Sunday, we find ourselves at a table, participating in a meal that we can never repay. That’s what our call is, to be people of compassion,” he said.
The most pertinent Gospel passage reflecting Barrie’s situation, Léger said, can be found in Matthew 25:35 — “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in.”
“There is no better passage that describes the final exam, so to speak, to enter into the Kingdom,” Léger said. “If we don’t pay attention to that, we are in dire trouble.”
St. Mary’s is hosting its second symposium on housing on Oct. 6 under the theme of “Responding with Compassion and Hope.” There, Léger and company hope to change the narrative once again, even in the face of discouraging responses, and help people in their parish community see the unhoused through a lens of compassion in line with the Jubilee Year of Hope.
