The Bylaw State

“This important and timely book alerts us to the powerful and overlooked work of the bylaw in regulating the unhoused. Bylaws are easily overlooked as technical, petty, or antiquated. Flynn and Hermer, however, urge us to take them seriously, revealing their powerful, dehumanizing and exclusionary effects. To fully understand the injustice of the unhoused, they insist, requires careful attention to the alchemy of the bylaw.”

“This empirical and date-driven study remains accessible without simplifying the problems it addresses or reducing the stakes. Attentive to settler-colonialism and the disproportionate impacts experienced by Indigenous, racialized and marginalized people, this book serves as a national call, reminding us that the housing crisis has not just become the central battleground over property, poverty and the public, but also for our humanity.”

“The authoritarian government that many of us in North America today fear will come from the top of the state in the form of legislation and executive orders, is already here at the bottom in the form of local bylaws and ordinances designed to provide for public order and safety but increasingly used for the long term governance of the unhoused among us. In The Bylaw State, Flynn and Hermer open a door to a side of modern democracy more pervasive than the carceral state, and for many of the most vulnerable among us, just as destructive. A vital contribution to contemporary socio-legal studies.”

“The Bylaw State is an important addition to the conversation on how to address homelessness, and it comes at a critical time. Governments are neglecting their human rights obligations and turning to criminalization and enforcement in response to homelessness and encampments. As Federal Housing Advocate, I have heard consistently that bylaws that criminalize homelessness and allow encampment evictions are causing greater harms and instability. As Flynn and Hermer explain, centering dignity, accountability, and legal obligations at the heart of solutions allows municipalities to address homelessness with the urgency and compassion that the crisis demands.”

“The Bylaw State describes in legal detail the magical thinking municipal councils engage in as they pass bylaws to address the social problems of homelessness, hoping that a bylaw, the police or the courts will address these issues. All sorts of euphemisms are used to address homelessness – loitering, vagrancy, panhandling, soliciting, obstruction - instead of calling the problem what it is. And like all magical thinking, the problem remains, and it won’t go away until more housing is built and rents are affordable.”

“Alexandra Flynn and Joe Hermer thoroughly chronicle the rapid emergence and evolution of municipal bylaws across the country as a tool for the removal and criminalization of unhoused people amidst the blatant absence of housing justice. Our country’s reliance on bylaws that disrupt human rights is a dystopian response that all Canadians must resist.”

“For everyone working to end homelessness, this book provides powerful insights into how bylaws shape exclusion and precarity for people who are unhoused. To create real systemic change, the reader is called to rethink the rules that drive policy and practice in cities. By pulling back the curtain on how bylaws undermine the dignity of individuals trying to survive in public spaces, Flynn and Hermer affirm the need for a response that is based in human rights. Housing justice demands a whole-of-government approach that meets the housing, health and social needs of those most deeply affected. For city leaders, this book is a timely and critical call to action.”

“Passionate, learned and engaging, Alexandra Flynn and Joe Hermer’s The Bylaw State details how homelessness has been transformed from a housing and social welfare lens into a ‘nuisance’ issue that denies the humanity and vulnerability of those most affected. Anyone interested in the sorry state of housing in Canada should read this book – and then act to ensure that municipal governments govern to support their more marginalized citizens.”

Alexandra Flynn

Alexandra Flynn is an associate professor at UBC’s Allard School of Law and the director of the Housing Research Collaborative. Her teaching and research focus on municipal and property law. The Housing Research Collaborative is involved in CMHC- and SSHRC-funded projects addressing Canada’s housing crisis, including the Housing Assessment Resource Tools project and the Balanced Supply of Housing Node. She is the recipient of the 2024 Gold Roof Award for Housing Research Excellence.

Flynn is currently working on projects related to housing law in Canadian cities, such as legal protections for tent encampments and the right to housing. Before her academic career, she practiced corporate law in New York, where she received several Legal Aid awards. She also practiced Aboriginal law in Vancouver, representing First Nations, and held a senior policy role at the City of Toronto focusing on intergovernmental relationships. Flynn is a past TEDx speaker, a frequent media commentator, and a keynote speaker with a long history of volunteer work.

Joe Hermer

Joe Hermer is a criminologist and an associate professor and chair of the Sociology Department at the University of Toronto Scarborough. His research areas include policing, regulation, and state power, with a specific interest in vulnerable and street-involved populations. His recent work examines how municipal governments police homeless encampments and unhoused individuals in public spaces. He provides advice to NGOs, charities, and legal advocates on anti-criminalization strategies and legal interventions. His recent publications include Policing Compassion: Begging, Law and Power in Public Spaces.

Terry Teegee

Terry Teegee is the elected Regional Chief of the British Columbia Assembly of First Nations, currently serving his third term. His ancestry includes Dakelh, Gitxsan, and Sekani heritage, and he is a member of Takla Nation. A former registered professional forester, Teegee managed forests, forest lands, and forest resources and is deeply involved in natural resources development and related policies. As Regional Chief, he was a key advocate in the development and historic passage of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA).

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