Defund the Police Hamilton Coalition camps out at Hamilton City Hall; demands police funding be reallocated to free permanent housing

HAMILTON, ON, Nov. 23, 2020 /CNW/ - On the heels of the three-year anniversary of the release of the National Housing Strategy, activists from the Defund the Police Hamilton Coalition rallied outside Hamilton City Hall calling to defund the police and invest in free, public housing for all who need it. The demonstration came as the Hamilton City Council entertained a request from the Hamilton Police Services (HPS) to increase their budget by four million dollars. This is being debated despite the fact that HPS has a budget of $171 million and a current annual surplus of $567,875, while the City of Hamilton spends only $25 million on Healthy and Safe communities and a total of $151 million on social services.

"More money is invested into policing in Hamilton than in any other service in our city," said Sahra Soudi, an organizer with Defund the Police Hamilton Coalition. "Throughout Canada and in Hamilton, we invest more in policing than we do in essential public infrastructure like housing. It is necessary that we prioritize the lives of houseless people over the racist institution of policing."

About 25 activists erected tents, and say that they refuse to leave until the City of Hamilton agrees to defund police and invest in housing. The activists released the following demand to the City of Hamilton, the Province of Ontario and the Government of Canada:

In light of the global pandemic, we demand that police at all levels of government be defunded, and that the savings are immediately invested back into free permanent housing across this country.

With respect to Hamilton, the activists are demanding an immediate 50% reduction of the police services budget.  "

SOURCE Defund the Police Hamilton Coalition