It was nearly five years ago that Paul Hancock lost his job, then his home.
With nowhere to live and wanting to escape the “riff raff” downtown, he decided to move someplace out of sight to most people; somewhere he’s at least somewhat protected from the elements; a spot where he could work on fixing broken bicycles and other things in order to trade or barter to attain essential items needed to survive.
Living in an encampment below the Hanlon Expressway bridge over the Speed River hasn’t been easy – “It’s a little on the rough side,” he says – but he’s made it his home. He sleeps in a shed, next to a tent he refers to as his garage.
During the past few years, others have joined him there, setting up structures and tents of their own, creating a community unto themselves, along with others who stay for short periods of time.
But all that is about to end. The Ministry of Transportation (MTO) handed out eviction notices on Wednesday, giving them until the end of Sunday to clear out. According to the notice, anything left behind will be held at a ministry yard on Elmira Road for 30 days. If not claimed by then, it’ll be thrown out.
“It’s kind of ludicrous,” Hancock said of the short notice. “It’s not enough time. We’re packing up but there’s no way it can be done by the 26th – there’s no way.”
Not only does Hancock have nowhere to put his life’s possessions, he has no way of paying to store it, let alone cover the cost of rent for himself and his canine companion, Gemma.
“What are we supposed to do?” he asked, shrugging his arms. “We’ll see what happens.”
As explained in the eviction notice, the encampment property is owned by the MTO. It encourages residents to “vacate these lands and utilize the safe, social programs available” to them.
“All parties involved are concerned for your continued safety, in particular Guelph fire department and emergency services have expressed concern with open fires that conflict with the intended use and present a risk to health and safety,” the notice states.
The MTO did not return request for comment.
Encampment residents acknowledge they’ve used fires to cook on – the site features several small fire pits surrounded by rocks – which have inspired calls of concern to the fire department and led to visits from officials, including regular visits from police who stop by to touch base.
However, they say they’ve made any changes recommended to them, including to wood heaters used to warm their structures.
“We’ll have to find another spot, I guess. We can’t really take everything with us,” said David Dobbs, who moved to the encampment about a year ago.
At the moment, his plan is to gather what’s most important to him and get it to a storage unit.
“I’ll worry about the rest when (eviction) day comes,” said Dobbs, noting he works for Seguin Health Centre and spends four days a week helping to disburse harm reduction materials as well as camping gear to people who are homeless.
Hancock and Dobbs are hopeful something will happen before the end of Sunday that convinces the MTO not to clear out the site, but neither is particularly optimistic about it.
