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The reason being the motion being pulled, he said, was a decision released on Friday in Kingston, where the city had been looking for a judicial order to clear an encampment at a city park. , Justice Ian Carter found that the city’s ban on overnight sheltering was unconstitutional and encampment residents “are entitled to be in the park,” as they are members of the public.

In his decision, Carter said the City of Kingston’s prohibition on camping cannot apply to those who are homeless and erecting temporary shelters in parks, so long as they are set up an hour before sunset and are down by an hour after sunrise.

In an email to the Mercury Tribune, Guthrie said he brought his motion forward despite the Kingston ruling still being outstanding — the matter was before the court there at the end of October — so that it and similar judicial rulings “could be taken into consideration before our staff could report back.”

He added that the decision came out sooner than expected, noting that “originally it was thought the Kingston decision wasn’t going to be released until end of December or January.”

“Many mayors, councils and cities will be looking to this decision on how it impacts their communities. It touches on the constitutional review and appropriateness of the Charter on such encampment bylaws, yet also referenced time of day use of shelters being erected to that of overnight and not during the day.”

The mayor added that he felt he had no choice but to act sooner rather than later.

“Myself and councillors continually and endlessly get asked about what we’re doing about encampments. I felt it appropriate, and still do, to have a report that transparently addresses this issue for public consumption so that council can point to a current position on them,” he said.

Guthrie’s motion was this month, but was to include a call for a report on potentially creating a sanctioned encampment site, along with the involvement of those living in encampments or with similar lived experiences to help determine what such a site should look like.

This is the second ruling from an Ontario court impacting encampments this year, with Justice Michael J. Valente  that a Region of Waterloo bylaw prohibiting tents and other temporary structures being set up on regionally owned land — which was cited in an injunction to evict people that had set up an encampment in downtown Kitchener — was unconstitutional.

Moving forward, Guthrie said, “the status quo on these issues can’t be ignored.”

“I am already considering action on these issues, whether staff opinions, or measures to address amenities to those in encampments at present,” Guthrie wrote in his email.

A revised version of his motion had called on city staff to create a safe use of public spaces bylaw. Posting on X, formerly known as Twitter, Guthrie said he will be bringing something to council on such a bylaw “more than likely early in 2024.”

Speaking with the Mercury Tribune last week, Guthrie said he has heard from downtown businesses that issues go beyond just tents, pointing to “a lot of behavioural issues that are taking place within the downtown that are causing a lot of concern for not only them as business owners, but for their customers, for visitors that are coming as well.”

“That behavioural piece, I thought, was really important to make sure was added, and that speaks to things like drug paraphernalia, drug use out in the open, violence, confrontational behaviours, loitering and disrupting access to public spaces.”