Campers move near Ravine Way after being ordered out of Regina Park
About 100 homeless campers and their supporters have moved onto a treed green space north of Ravine Way at Carey Road, hoping they will be able to remain there without being evicted.
They pitched tents Friday night after spending Thursday night at Rudd Park after they were ordered out of Regina Park.
Camp organizer Chrissy Brett said that the Ravine Way property is provincial land. “So there is nothing that requires us to take our tents down at 9 a.m. tomorrow morning.”
More than 100 Saanich parks allow overnight camping between 7 p.m. and 9 a.m., meaning people have to pack up their tents in the morning.
Brett could not say if the Ravine Way site would be a long-term camp. “We will have to wait and see how the province chooses to respond to this move.”
Ivan Drury, an advocate for the homeless in B.C., arrived from the mainland to support the campers. “I am worried about what is going to happen tomorrow morning,” he said. He speculated that police would require campers to move on.
The campers had been living for months in a tent city in Regina Park, next to the Trans-Canada Highway, with dozens of others who have dispersed elsewhere. A B.C. Supreme Court order required them to move from the site so that it could be remediated.
Saanich police enforced that order on Thursday when all residents were moved out.
Some campers spent the night in Rudd Park, a few blocks from Regina Park, and rallied shortly after 5 p.m. Friday. They marched along Harriet Road, chanting “Homes not hate,” and stopped at Ravine Way.
The march blocked a bus and cars, bringing Saanich police out to control traffic.
A supporter supplied a moving truck to transport campers’ belongings to the Carey Road property.
As a light rain fell in the early evening, about a dozen campers put up their tents, posted signs, and ran a yellow perimeter rope around the site.
Earlier in the day, people evicted by Saanich police from Regina Park Thursday night and who settled at Rudd Park said they were harassed by passersby and at one point fireworks were shot overhead, narrowly missing tents.
The Rudd Park washrooms weren’t open, so campers used a nearby convenience store and gas station. At 8 a.m. Friday, the adjacent playing field was mowed.
Regina Park which parallels the TransCanada Highway, was re-opened by police at 10 a.m. to allow campers to retrieve the rest of their belongings by 2 p.m., when the encampment’s two entry points were locked again.
Brett said the dismantling of the camp was not compassionate or orderly as promised, and forcing campers out Thursday rather than Friday caused unnecessary disruption and stress for campers and neighbours alike.
Parents with young children approached police Friday morning and expressed concern about public safety, as Rudd Park includes a playground and is regularly used by community groups.
Sarah Su runs Curious Kids Infant and Toddler Centre on Boleskine Road, directly across from the park. She is permitted to use a specific area of the park for children’s break time. “It’s not an appropriate place,” said Su. “This makes it a real challenge for us to provide safe childcare.”
Su said, she couldn’t risk using the park due to the possibility that drug paraphernalia or biohazards were on the field, and had to find an alternative space. She said she understands there is a housing crisis, but there’s also a daycare crisis, and many parents expressed concern for their children’s safety.