Vancouver officials say the dozens of homeless people staying in the city's only legal encampment have to temporarily move out because the space has become unsafe and unhygienic. A person sits in a tent at a homeless encampment at Crab Park in Vancouver, on Sunday, Aug. 14, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Vancouver officials say dozens of homeless people staying in the city’s only legal encampment have to temporarily move because the site has become unsafe and unhygienic.
Deputy city manager Sandra Singh says the section of Crab Park designated for the tent city will be shut for a week starting March 25 so equipment can be brought in to clean piles of debris and unsafe structures.
Singh says the city’s actions are not a decampment, since the estimated 30 to 50 people staying at the site will be allowed to return after being temporarily moved to an undisclosed location elsewhere in the park.
Residents living in the park say discussions around leaving their homes should wait until a human rights complaint is heard that alleges they are not being provided with basic needs such as washrooms and electricity.
Singh says if the people staying at the Crab Park site don’t comply with the rules after the area is cleaned up, such as not bringing in propane tanks, then they’ll have to reconsider allowing the encampment to remain.
The encampment began in 2021 and remained in place a year later when a B.C. Supreme Court judge set aside eviction notices in part because the city didn’t have enough indoor shelter spaces to accommodate those living in tents.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 12, 2024.
