Vancouver Park Board seeking court injunction to remove CRAB Park tent city
The tent encampment at Vancouver’s CRAB Park could soon be dismantled.
The park board has confirmed it is seeking a court injunction to remove the roughly 35 tents at the park in Vancouver’s harbour.
In September, board staff began enforcing a bylaw that allows for overnight camping in park spaces, but requires structures to be taken down each day. Some campers moved out, and a section of the greenspace was fenced off for remediation, but several dozen campers remain defiant.
Supporters of the encampment gathered outside of the Vancouver Park Board office in Stanley Park on Thursday, demanding city officials stop interfering with the camp. Campers described the tent city as a tight-knit community, safer and cleaner than the SRO’s nearby on the Downtown Eastside.
”Right now, in CRAB Park, I’m comfortable,” said Alan, one of the campers. “I have a couple of friends there and they keep an eye out on my stuff. I don’t have to worry about anything going missing. No one touches my place.”
But park board spokesperson Jeannine Guérette said conditions in CRAB Park are deteriorating as winter approaches.
“The park board is pursuing enforcement of the Park Control By-law and are working with the city and B.C. Housing to ensure adequate shelter options are available," Guérette said.
One problem with that approach, according to councillor Jean Swanson, is that the city doesn't "ask the people who'd be moving what's suitable for them."
Camp advocates argue the proposed shelter options are inadequate, and that shutting down the CRAB Park encampment would only lead to tents being pitched at another city park.
“Now and then we get a vacancy in a hotel, SRO, or social housing, but we don’t have 35 of them popping up in decent suitable places,” said Swanson.
Moving to temporary spaces in city-owned buildings is not a solution to homelessness, said campers. Their tents will come down only when long-term housing options are available.
“Very few options are being presented, so people are finding their home there, and staying in CRAB Park,” said Fiona York, camp supporter and advocate for the homeless. “We don’t want (campers) to be evicted. We don’t want an injunction.”
If granted a court injunction, the park board will have the authority to forcibly dismantle the encampment. Campers who refuse to leave would risk being arrested. The board calls it a last resort, used only when all other avenues of clearing a homeless encampment have been exhausted.
Claudette, a camper at the former Strathcona Park encampment and frequent visitor of the tents at CRAB Park, says many of the remaining campers are Indigenous. She feels the idea of a court injunction to displace them flies in the face of reconciliation.
“There’s no equality. They call us First Nations, but it doesn’t feel like it,” she said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
Stormy Daniels took the witness stand Tuesday at Donald Trump's hush money trial, describing for jurors a sexual encounter the porn actor says she had with him in 2006 that resulted in her being paid off to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Air France flight from Paris to Seattle lands in Iqaluit after heat smell in cabin
A plane travelling from Paris to Seattle was forced to make an emergency landing in Iqaluit after there was a heat smell in the cabin during the flight.
CFL suspends Argos QB Chad Kelly at least nine games following investigation
The CFL suspended Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly for at least nine regular-season games Tuesday following its investigation into a lawsuit filed by a former strength-and-conditioning coach against both the player and club.
Boy Scouts of America changing name for first time in 114 years, aiming for inclusivity
The Boy Scouts of America is changing its name for the first time in its 114-year history and will become Scouting America. It's a significant shift as the organization emerges from bankruptcy following a flood of sexual abuse claims and seeks to focus on inclusion.
RCMP not investigating possible foreign interference cases related to Chiu, Dong: Duheme
Canada's federal police force is not investigating any possible instances of foreign interference in the cases of former Conservative MP Kenny Chiu and Liberal-turned-Independent MP Han Dong, RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme says.
Federal government grants B.C.'s request to recriminalize hard drugs in public spaces
The federal government is granting British Columbia's request to recriminalize hard drugs in public spaces, nearly two weeks after the province asked to end its pilot project early over concerns of public drug use.