A Saskatoon judge has reserved his decision on an emergency request to stop the city from clearing encampments near 20th Street West. Crystal Fafard and Sheela McLean applied for an injunction after the Saskatoon Fire Department issued a notice calling for the encampment to be cleared. Justice Richard Danyliuk said he expects to make his decision within 24 hours. The city said it will not clear the encampments before the ruling is delivered. The lots are at 301 Avenue K South, 1112 19th Street Westand 1202 19th Street West. In court, Fafard argued that forcing people to leave would cause them irreparable harm. Danyliuk repeatedly questioned whether Fafard’s claims were supported by evidence. “Sorry to sound like a broken record, but is that in your brief?” Danyliuk said. “No it’s not, it’s not, your honour,” Fafard responded. Danyliuk also questioned information in Fafard’s affidavit that she had not witnessed firsthand, including behaviours at the encampments. “You have to disclose the source of the hearsay,” he said. “I can’t act on stuff I hear on the radio or things people tell me. As a judge, I must confine myself to the evidence submitted in the four walls of this room.” Fafard told the court she’s a corporate lawyer who has spent the past eight years volunteering with people experiencing homelessness. She said she saw a social media post about the notice to clear the encampments and felt she needed to act. The other applicant, Sheela McLean, was not in court. Fafard described her as an advocate. “We had a very short time to pull this application together. We had literally hours. We were unable to get all the evidence needed for this particular application,” Fafard told reporters outside the courthouse. Alan Rankine, a lawyer for the city, argued there is insufficient evidence that clearing the encampments would cause irreparable harm. He pointed to the city’s ownership of the land and its authority to act under trespass and fire safety bylaws. The city said it’s received concerns from neighbours and the nearby school about noise, human feces, garbage, nudity and drug use associated with the encampments. Rankine noted an inconsistency in Fafard’s two affidavits — one identifies her as an unhoused person, while the other does not. “We were trying desperately to get an affidavit from an unhoused, and we weren’t able to do it, and they got crossed up,” Fafard explained. Fafard argued that clearing the sites would not be in the public interest. “This is now going to force people into other parts of the city. I mean, does Saskatoon want that?” Fafard said. “In my draft court order, I suggested that the encampment and the city work together to come up with a reasonable plan to transition people into shelters and into housing.”
