Homelessness
“Where will tramps not go, and what won’t they do to illustrate their faith in the idea that the world owes them a living?”
This is a quote taken from the Berlin Daily News March 3, 1878, in response to vagrants who sought shelter in an old Mennonite church in town . This statement reflects common beliefs of the time towards those who were vagrants or homeless in the area. The rejection of the British poor laws in Upper Canada in 1792 is a benchmark which defines the provinces approach to the treatment of its poor. The rejection of these laws was likely from the belief that these laws were the cause of pauperism and indigence in Britain, and that they were what kept the able-bodied from working (Johnson, Wilson 1986). It was widely believed that poor relief or assistance should not be universal, but should be targeted to specific deserving groups (Elson 2011). The rejection of poor laws in Canada also reflect the concern with the use of property tax to support poor houses (Mauruto 2005). In 1837, the House of Industry act was passed, which allowed for the erection and maintenance of houses of industry . This act specified that these houses were for those who were able bodied but still incapable of supporting themselves, and those who were vagrants, or could not produce a living. However, the act, was not widely implemented, and only resulted in the establishment of Houses of Industry in Kingston and Niagara (Pue, Wright, 1988). It is discussed by Wright that the rejection of this act may have been due to the ideals of poverty being a matter of individual, family, or church intervention, not responsibility of the public or the government (1983) When poor relief or poorhouses were not in place, vagrants were often arrested and committed to jails, which were seen as the only public institution at the time. Legislation was passed in 1810 which allowed jails to house “ All and every idle and disorderly person, or Rogue and Vagabonds, and incorrigible Rogues” (Ragnishene 2012). As vagrancy was viewed in Canada as a penal problem, legislation addressed vagrancy as a crime punishable by imprisonment. This resulted in the jailing of “persons whose only crime was their inability to care for themselves” (Ragnishene 2012). Vagrancy accounted for markedly high committals to correctional institutions In the County of Waterloo, similar laws towards vagrancy applied. As stated in By-Law 67 “For the Preservation of Public Morals”.
That It shall not be lawful for any person or persons whomsoever to be drunk, or to utter any profane oath or obscene, indecent, blasphemous or grossly insulting language, or to be guilty of any immorality or indecency in any street or streets, highway or highways, or public place or places within the said corporation of the county of Waterloo.”
Canada’s confederation in 1867 and the establishment of the Municipal act of Ontario brought changes to legislature regarding poorhouses. On January 1 of 1867, the municipal act of Ontario required that the council of each county established a house of industry and refuge for their poor, to be erected within two years. The act was amended by 1869, leaving this construction as an option of the council. Construction on the Waterloo County House of Industry and Refuge began in 1867, and was underway despite this amendment. The House of Industry and Refuge Opened on June 15th, 1869. The creation of the poorhouse in the Waterloo County was in response to overcrowding of vagrants in the local jail, and was one of the first systems of social welfare put in place in the region.