Homeless camp residents' human rights complaint against Vancouver fast-tracked

The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal has agreed to fast-track a complaint from homeless encampment residents who have accused the City of Vancouver of discrimination.

The complaint alleges people living in CRAB Park have been denied basic services – including adequate access to electricity and washrooms – and that the city's failure to provide those services amounts to discrimination on the basis of Indigenous identity, physical disability, mental disability, sex or age.

"This is some of the daily discrimination that we face by the authorities," former CRAB Park resident Athena Pranteau said in a statement. "I'm glad (the complaint is) going forward."

According to the complaint, which also names the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation as a respondent, the city signed a memorandum of understanding in March 2021 agreeing that certain services must be provided for people who shelter in parks because there isn't sufficient housing available for them.

CRAB Park residents have accused the city and park board of denying them access to those services to drive them into shelters with conditions they wouldn't otherwise accept. According to advocates, there are a variety of reasons homeless people avoid available shelters spaces, including bug infestations, a lack of secure storage for their belongings, and on-site violence.

Homeless residents have been living in CRAB Park since May 2021, and a B.C. Supreme Court decision issued in January 2022 established an area of the park where residents can camp 24 hours a day.

City bylaws require most homeless people to pack up their tents and belongings every morning – a rule that advocates have decried as unnecessarily cruel, particularly when enforced during the fall and winter months as the weather gets colder and wetter. 

The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal's decision to fast-track the CRAB Park residents’ complaint means it should move to an initial mediation stage "in the next few months," according to a Dec. 14 letter from tribunal member Steven Adamson.

CTV News has reached out to the City of Vancouver for a response to the complaint, and for information on what staff are doing to provide services in the park. A spokesperson responded with a brief statement that said the city and park board are "currently unaware of the letter" but "will be reviewing any complaint when we are served with it."

Earlier this year, officials promised a portion of $715,000 in funding from the provincial and federal governments would be used to provide additional services in the park, but few further details were provided, including a timeline for implementation.

After human rights complaints are accepted for mediation, respondents are given a chance to respond in writing and file to have the complain dismissed.

According to the tribunal, few complaints make it to the hearing stage – approximately 40 per year are resolved after a hearing, compared to more than 500 that are resolved through mediation.