The mayor of Kingston is calling for the continued closure of the city’s integrated care hub and the supervised injection site it houses following a series of deadly attacks at a nearby encampment that left two people dead and another critically injured.
But advocates warn shuttering the hub would be shortsighted and have negative consequences on the people who rely on its services.
On Thursday, police were involved in a lengthy standoff with a man they have now charged with two counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.
Andre Wareham, 47, of Kingston remains in custody after a bail hearing. Witnesses said he allegedly attacked people at the encampment with what looked like a hammer.
Police have identified 38-year-old Taylor Wilkinson and 41-year-old John Hood, both from Kingston, as the fatal victims but have not named the person in hospital.
‘We have to turn the page,’ mayor says
The hub has been asked to temporarily close as police continue to investigate the incident.
But in a statement released soon after the attacks and in a Friday interview with CBC News, Mayor Bryan Paterson called for the encampment — a source of friction for years — to be cleared.
He also said the hub should stay closed.
WATCH | Kingston mayor calls for changes after homicides:
Kingston Mayor Bryan Paterson is calling for the city’s Integrated Care Hub to be closed, saying Thursday’s attack was “the final straw.” Jay English, who lived in the nearby encampment, says displacing residents isn’t the answer.
Paterson said he’d like to work with community partners to continue providing alternative health services.
He offered few specifics, but mentioned more treatment and housing resources.
“We have an immediate closure because it’s a crime scene,” he said. “What I’d like to see is the closure of what has occurred so we can have something else. That call for closure is really to say we have to turn the page.”
Community reacts to mayor’s statement
Ted Robinson, the volunteer board chair at Trellis HIV and Community Care — an operating partner with the hub — said he understands the encampment has led to safety concerns.
But the nearby hub reduces costly emergency room visits, connects people to community support services and saves lives, he said.
Robinson called the mayor’s call for a shutdown “unfortunate,” arguing there are broader societal issues that need to be addressed rather than targeting the hub and pushing vulnerable people “further into the margins of society.”
“It has to do with the poison drug supply, it has to do with mental health, it has to do with housing supply, it has to do with all of those macro issues and we need to address those and we need to find those solutions,” he said.
Alicia Lees attended a Friday vigil at the scene of the incident. She and other attendees also held a demonstration and spoke out against the mayor’s remarks.
Lees said she has been donating clothes, furniture and other supplies to encampment residents and called on Paterson to meet with them.
“He needs to understand they have nowhere else to go,” she said. “He needs to fix that before taking away their safe space. Do something. Don’t just get rid of it.”
Jay English said he’s lived in the encampment for more than two years and that he witnessed the attacks.
“We’re all hurt. Really, really hurt,” he said.
As for the mayor’s remarks, “It’s a bad enough day,” English said. “We lost two of our best friends … Now to lose our homes and have to go somewhere where we’re not going to feel as comfortable as we all do here … it’s going to take its toll.”
Past tensions
The encampment has long been controversial in Kingston, with officials pushing to have it cleared and even seeking a court order to do so.
A judge ruled the city’s ban on overnight sheltering was unconstitutional. However, he included an exception allowing people who are homeless to erect shelters in parks, but only overnight.
Attempts to enforce that rule were met with protests and blockades in April, and the encampment remained.
John Done, one of the lawyers who represented encampment residents during the court case, called Paterson’s words this week “premature and misguided.”
Done noted police are continuing to investigate, adding there’s no indication at this point the hub or supervised injection site played a role in what happened on Thursday.