Vanier Park tent encampment residents refuse to leave
Residents of a tent encampment on Vancouver’s west side are defying orders to leave, despite being given 24 hours' notice to vacate the area.
Park rangers attended the site in Vanier Park Tuesday morning, telling the five residents that they were in violation of city bylaws and had to leave the next day.
Crews returned Wednesday, but the residents weren’t ready to leave. Rangers and a representative from the City of Vancouver were on site to discuss shelter options with the campers, but advocates who spoke to CTV News on the campers’ behalf said they didn’t want to leave.
“This is where they live. They’ve tried shelters, they have tried SROs,” said Kaylayla Raine, a member of the Stop the Sweeps campaign on the Downtown Eastside.
Raine said she had never met or spoken with the campers before Wednesday, but came to the park when she became aware that they were being evicted.
“This isn’t a tent city, this is just a couple of people looking to make a safe space for themselves,” she said.
Roughly an hour after rangers arrived on scene, a small fire started in a pile of garbage. It appeared to be deliberately lit by someone from outside the encampment. One ranger reported seeing a man with a dog flee the area just minutes after the blaze was discovered. It was quickly extinguished and Vancouver firefighters said it is considered suspicious and under investigation.
Due to safety concerns, all garbage and debris was ordered removed from the park. The large structures however, are still there.
Scott Jensen, chair of the Vancouver Park Board, told CTV News the plan is to return the park to its original condition and help transition the residents into supportive housing. He also raised concerns about propane tanks and other chemicals that had been removed Tuesday.
“That gas is leaching into the environment (and) those individuals living in that area, without proper facilities, are using the park for a bathroom,” Jensen said. “These are not ways that we want to have our parks being used.”
The swift action at Vanier Park has been met with criticism, with some suggesting the city is prioritizing issues on Vancouver’s wealthier west side.
“This is not an east-side-west-side issue,” Jensen said. “We will be applying the bylaw equally across the city to ensure that individuals that are setting up permanent structures anywhere across the city, that will be addressed.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
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.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
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.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.