When we see authoritarians like Mat Siscoe, the mayor of the City of St. Catharines, eagerly and gleefully creating bylaws that criminalize the unhoused, we have to ask ourselves what his motives are. At the Region, during the few times he does indeed show up for Council meetings, he’s witnessed Service Providers describe bed shortages and other barriers to housing some of our most vulnerable, yet Mat ignores this. In my many years of attending public and private discussions of housing and homelessness services and program pitfalls, Mat has never lobbied for more beds, lower barriers, or a different approach to housing or other essential services. He only seems interested in serving one particular constituency.

AND SO IT BEGINS

With the City’s administrator, David Oakes, whispering sweet nothings into Mat’s ear, the solution to our growing homelessness problem is using mindless drones like the Niagara Regional Police Service and our clownish bylaw enforcement officers (which will be dramatically scaled up in the next few months by at least 5 to 15 new Enforcement Brown Shirts) to intimidate and terrorize the vulnerable with new fines (“taxes”) and possible jail time isn’t a solution. 

“SCARE, SCATTER, AND NEGLECT” isn’t a solution to mental health and addiction issues, poverty, unemployment, and homelessness. Still, a spiffy new sidewalk is something Mat can easily sell to an unsophisticated electorate. 

A TALE OF TWO CITIES

The motives or sincerity of Mat “The Autocrat” Siscoe and David “Ew, the Poor!” Oakes aren’t speculation, as Mat has publicly endorsed alt-right and extreme conservative ideology, including politicians who have called the unhoused “lazy.” This is the same deeply held belief that Siscoe and Oakes share, and their apparent ‘war on the poor’ is now as self-evident as it was predictable.

David Oakes, who has waged war on the unhoused for several terms of council now, who clearly has a personal vendetta against the poor, unwell, and unhoused, has now partnered up with a willing, uncaring autocrat like Mat Siscoe-who is now relishing in his dangerous undemocratic “Strong Mayors” endowment. With this new bylaw, a solution is not to end or even help address the housing issues in this City, but rather one that addresses optics. These two rich, privileged white men aren’t looking to house, treat, or help our most vulnerable; they are looking to take the perceptible reminders of these late-stage capitalist, neo-liberal failings and make them invisible. 

MAKE ST. CATHARINES GREAT AGAIN

With Siscoe and Oakes trying to “scrub clean our streets,” it’s less a reflection of progress but more so a reflection of them wanting to scrub clean their conscience, to eliminate the reminders of their privilege and lack of empathy and compassion. The unhoused in our City and Region are a mirror, a reflection of their professional and personal failings. They can’t stand to be reminded of their own collective failures-and some residents subconsciously desire the same thing. 

The shortsightedness of such fascistic bylaws, which criminalize the state of being homeless, reveals a dangerous presumption: that homelessness is a choice. In reality, it is often the tragic outcome of an economic system driven by avarice, one that disproportionately rewards luck and privilege while marginalizing the most vulnerable among us.

Most acts or behaviours that are criminal in nature are a choice. Stealing someone’s car is a choice; you decide to take a car that isn’t yours. Clear and deliberate steps are taken to act in contravention of the law. Creating a bylaw to weaponize the police based on the identity of someone isn’t a solution. No one woke up this morning and decided to be homeless; no unhoused person in our City opted to remain unhoused. Being unhoused is a symptom of an underlying condition, whether it is the cost of living crisis or mental health issues; it all begins without the free will to avoid the perils of living rough on the edges of our town, our society.

READ MY LIPS, “NO NEW TAXES!” 

Jail will be an undeniable end result when the City moves to seek collection on this new tax created by Mat and David. The City will seek judicial remedies for collection, and if successful, a violation of a court order may result in custodial detention. Historically, we’ve seen what happens when the unhoused, unemployed, and unwell are imprisoned. It doesn’t result in a hand up and out of poverty; it ensures recidivism, inter-generational trauma, and abuse in and by the institutions that imprison these individuals.

NO VACANCY

In conclusion, I would like to address those privileged apologists who are eager to downplay the upcoming purge by claiming, “No unhoused person will be targeted when shelter beds or housing options are available.” I want to remind them and my readers that not everyone can be adequately housed. Many shelters and housing programs come with significant restrictions that individuals with complex needs or health issues simply cannot meet. The rules imposed by the Region are often callous and create arbitrary barriers, intentionally excluding those who may have underlying traumas that the social workers or service providers fail to understand.

In their detached, cushioned existence, highly paid, overly privileged autocrats formulate rules that are entirely divorced from reality. Their regulations emerge from a place devoid of genuine understanding about the struggles faced by those grappling with addiction and significant mental health challenges, including oppositional defiant disorder and various disruptive, impulse-control, and conduct disorders. Yet, we persist in the unrealistic expectation that our unhoused population will simply “fall in line” and behave cooperatively despite years of systemic abuse, neglect, and being rendered invisible and disposable.

Although shelter beds and housing options may occasionally become available, it is crucial to understand that some individuals will continue to experience homelessness—not by choice, but because of circumstances and challenges often beyond their control, as well as decisions made by service providers and government agencies.

Yes, the unhoused will be charged, threatened, and driven farther from the life-sustaining services our City, Region, and Non-Governmental Organizations provide and yes, unhoused and unwell people will die as a direct result of the spiteful actions of; Mat Siscoe, David Oakes, Sandor Csanyi, Jackie Lindal, Marty Mako, Matt Harris, Joe Kushner, Mark Stevens, Kevin Townsend, Robin McPherson, Dawn Dodge, Bill Phillips, and Bruce Williamson.

STEADY, UNBROKEN: A River of Reconciliation

This piece reflects on the significance of National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, emphasizing the importance of listening to land, honoring Indigenous truths, and taking action towards reconciliation. The author highlights personal experiences along the Grand River, advocating for stewardship and shared responsibility.

Sabrina Constance Hill's avatar by Sabrina Constance Hill