Bizarre article, it makes it sound like this is some new experiment and a contrast to the US?

Homeless camps were effectively legalized by a 2018 court ruling in the US, as long as there isn’t shelter space. Sounds simple enough, build more shelter space.

However in the west coast cities that was interpreted by local zealots as “shelter space that allows heavy drug and alcohol use”. A bed is not enough for this scenario, you need a separate structure per person.

West coast cities have been supporting camps like this (tiny) one in Halifax for decades.

Very recently the 2018 ruling was overturned, there are still thousands of camps supported by billions in government funding.