Rangers seize tents from CRAB Park in 'sweep and scatter' effort, advocates say
Vancouver park rangers enforced the removal of several tents from CRAB Park Tuesday morning in what advocates decried as a "sweep and scatter" effort to displace more homeless campers.
The Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation said the rangers, who were accompanied by police, were enforcing a city bylaw requiring most homeless people to pack up their tents during the daytime.
"We've had some positive compliance and we've had others who don't want to comply," said Steve Jackson, general manager of the park board. "And we work with those to seek compliance."
As many as 20 tents were removed on Tuesday, Jackson said.
Margot Young, a law professor from the University of British Columbia, came to CRAB Park to observe the rangers' actions, and described the city's approach as "simply cruel."
"It's an astonishingly inhumane way to treat some of the most marginalized, beleaguered people in our city," Young said.
Officials began increasing enforcement of the bylaw last fall, and continued through the winter months even as temperatures plummeted.
There is only one designated area, located in a different part of CRAB Park, where Vancouver's homeless are allowed to remain 24 hours a day, and officials have expressed an intention to gradually reduce the size of that already-limited area as individual residents are offered alternative housing.
"As always, the shared goal of the park board and the city is to support those sheltering outdoors to come inside," the park board said in a statement Tuesday. "As people sheltering in the designated area move inside, the park board will continue to incrementally reduce the designated area until the whole area can be returned to regular park use."
Many homeless residents choose to camp outside rather than stay in the shelter spaces available in Vancouver over a variety of concerns, including cleanliness and a lack of secure storage for their belongings.
Advocates said more than 30 people were "forcibly removed" from the designated area of CRAB Park in March as the city conducted a cleanup, during which crews reportedly removed some 90 tonnes of material and debris, including 20 propane tanks and six generators.
The cleanup was completed on April 8, but the city only allowed 16 "intended users" to return to separated sheltering spaces that had been set up for them. According to the park board, two of those spaces have since been dismantled after "two more intended users moved indoors," leaving 14.
Fiona York, a spokesperson for CRAB Park residents, said the campers who were not allowed to return to the designated area are still waiting on a promised appeals process.
"A bunch of people have lived here for a long time and are not being given a chance to prove that, and that’s really unfair," York said in a statement.
On Tuesday afternoon, a park board spokesperson told CTV News appeals can be sent by email to CrabParkAppeals@vancouver.ca, and will be reviewed within 48 hours. Only campers who were sheltering more than three nights a week in the designated area as of Feb. 26, 2024, will be considered as potential "intended users," according to the board.
Just four people have been housed since the CRAB Park eviction last month, according to advocates, leaving many others subject to repeated enforcement of the city's bylaw against keeping tents up during the day.
Michelle Gagnon-Creeley, a longtime volunteer in the park, said sweeps like the one conducted Tuesday lead to "trauma, disruption, sleep deprivation, loss of essential goods and disconnection from the community" for homeless campers.
"The reality is that until we solve the housing crisis, encampments are here to stay. What is the city’s interim solution?” Gagnon-Creeley said in a statement.
One homeless man, Sacha Christiano, said he was allowed to move into the designated area on Tuesday, but expressed concerns with the way Vancouver has chosen to deal with encampments.
"We're all normal people," Christiano said. "Everybody has difficulties in their life. There’s no reason to ostracize somebody, especially somebody in such a position."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Air Canada walks back new seat selection policy change after backlash
Air Canada has paused a new seat selection fee for travellers booked on the lowest fares just days after implementing it.
Province boots mayor and council in small northern Ont. town out of office
An ongoing municipal strike, court battles and revolt by half of council has prompted the province to oust the mayor and council in Black River-Matheson.
3 law officers serving warrant are killed, 5 wounded in shootout at North Carolina home, police say
Three officers on a U.S. Marshals Task Force serving a warrant for a felon wanted for possessing a firearm were killed and five other officers were wounded in a shootout Monday at a North Carolina home, police said.
'Shocked and concerned': Calgary principal charged with possession of child pornography
A Calgary elementary school principal has been charged with possession of child pornography, authorities announced Monday.
Health authority confirms cockroaches at B.C. hospital, insists they 'do not bite'
The Vancouver Island Health Authority is downplaying what staff describe as a cockroach infestation in a medical unit of Saanich Peninsula Hospital.
Toronto police arrest 12 people, lay 102 charges in major credit card fraud scheme
Toronto police say 12 people are facing a combined 102 charges in connection with an investigation into a major credit fraud scheme.
Winner of US$1.3 billion Powerball jackpot is an immigrant from Laos who has cancer
One of the winners of a historic US$1.3 billion Powerball jackpot last month is an immigrant from Laos who has had cancer for eight years and had his latest chemotherapy treatment last week.
Britney and Jamie Spears settlement avoids long, potentially ugly and revealing trial
Britney Spears and her father Jamie Spears will avoid what could have been a long, ugly and revealing trial with a settlement of the lingering issues in the court conservatorship that controlled her life and financial decisions for nearly 14 years.
WATCH 'Double whammy': What happens if you don't file your taxes by the deadline
The clock is ticking ahead of the deadline to file a 2023 income tax return. A personal finance expert explains why you should get them done -- even if you owe more than you can pay.