Nanaimo council girds for court fight against bid to extend deadline for removing tent city

The City of Nanaimo is preparing to fight a legal bid to extend the deadline for removing a tent city near its downtown.

But in case that doesn’t work, it has drawn up a nine-point list of conditions that will be proposed to the B.C. Supreme Court on Friday.

“I think this is a good middle way to try and deal with all issues at hand,” Nanaimo Mayor Bill McKay said Tuesday.

Conditions were crafted to protect public safety and stop anyone else from moving onto the city-owned property at 1 Port Dr. where the tent city was set up five months ago. Public safety issues include worries over fire hazards such as containers of propane stored inside and outside tents.

After a 90-minute in-camera meeting on Monday night where “very strong opinions” were voiced, Nanaimo council voted to oppose extending the deadline for closing the tent city, McKay said.

Sophie Wendling, a spokeswoman for the Alliance Against Displacement, said she was not immediately able to comment because she had not seen the city’s statement on the issue. But she said the city’s conditions appear to be somewhat extreme.

The Nanaimo tent city appears to be B.C.’s largest, with estimates of up at 350 campers. McKay said people are moving out and the number is now below 300.

The court ruled in September that tent city residents must leave the site by Oct. 12. That decision followed a city application for an injunction against the tent city.

Campers stayed put and Noah Ross, a lawyer for three tent city residents, has filed an application in court to extend the move-out date.

The province of B.C. has spent $3.6 million to buy modular structures and land to supply 170 supportive housing units for homeless campers by late November.

McKay said the city is trying find a balance. He noted that a letter was sent to the city from 70 organizations urging the city to allow campers to stay until the modular housing is in place. At the same time, the city is hearing from downtown businesses and residents who are unhappy about the impacts of the tent city.

The city and Ross will be in court in Nanaimo at 9 a.m. on Friday.

Under the City of Nanaimo’s proposed list of conditions, anyone who wants to stay at the tent city, is genuinely homeless and wants to move into provincial housing must identify themselves to the city or its representatives by 5 p.m. on Oct. 25.

Photo identification is preferred. If someone does not have that, the other option is to agree to have their picture taken, and to provide their full legal name and a social insurance number if possible.

After that deadline, anyone who is not on the homeless list may be escorted off the property and could be arrested by the RCMP.

Under the city’s plan, as of 2 p.m. on Nov. 23, the tent city would be permanently closed.

Provincial officials have offered differing dates for when the modular housing will be ready — by Nov. 15 and by Nov. 30. McKay said Nov. 23 was chosen for closing the tent city because it is midway between those dates.

B.C. Housing has agreed to pay for private security at the perimeter of the camp as recommended by the RCMP, consisting of two staffers with coverage around the clock. It said it will reimburse the City of Nanaimo for that contract.

The first modular units, purchased in Fort St. John, are arriving in Nanaimo by the end of this week.

Units will be prepared and site work will start, B.C. Housing said. Once that work is completed, modular units will be delivered and set up at both 250 Terminal Ave. and 2020 Labieux Rd. on municipal land.

The units are on schedule to be ready by late November, the province said.