‘No easy answer’: Protest camp at Abbotsford City Hall calls for action on homelessness
There appears to be no solution in sight to a standoff between the City of Abbotsford and an encampment protesting homelessness on the grounds of City Hall.
“We want them to tell us where they want us to go. Because that’s been the question the whole time … they always say anywhere but here,” encampment member Harvey Clause told Global News.
Most of the people sheltering in the encampment were living on BC Hydro land on Gladys Avenue until they were evicted last week.
That led to the establishment of the protest camp in Abbotsford’s Babich Park, where just over a dozen people are currently sheltering.
But following confrontations with neighbours, the camp was moved to City Hall where members are now demanding Abbotsford provide them with a piece of municipal land to shelter on.
“Just a place to go we’ll take care of everything else that’s all we want,” said Doug Smith, who has been dubbed the encampment’s president.
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“We know that encampments that are unsupported have a lot of problematic things that happen — we are not asking for that, it’s not going to be the wild wild west,” added Brittany Maple, program director for the Abbotsford Drug War Survivors.
“This needs to be something that is fully supported so people can have their needs met while they stabilize and move towards permanent housing.”
Many of those sheltering in the park cited the B.C. Supreme Court’s landmark 2015 ruling that struck down Abbotsford’s bylaws that banned sleeping in parks as unconstitutional, saying the city has done nothing to improve conditions since then.
Abbotsford Mayor Ross Seimens said he was glad the camp had moved out of Babich Park, adding that city hall was a more appropriate place for a political protest.
But Seimens was cool to the idea of offering up any kind of land for a sanctioned homeless encampment.
“Long-term encampments are not a solution. we view housing first as the option we have been working with with the federal government and with BC Housing,” he said.
“There is no easy answer. And I don’t think there is any jurisdiction in North America that has come up with an easy answer, because if they did we wouldn’t be talking about this.”
Siemens said everyone in the encampment has been offered shelter, and about five people have accepted it.
Maple, however, said homeless shelters aren’t suitable for many people for a variety of different reasons, and that there needs to be an alternative.
Meanwhile, those tenting on City Hall’s lawn say they’re not going anywhere until the city or BC Housing finds a place for them.
“We’ll pay rent, we don’t care,” Smith said.