Nanaimo tent city shut down after campers clear out

Seven months after it was established, Nanaimo’s DisconTent City has been shut down.

Campers have moved out and backhoes have cleared the site.

Many tent city residents relocated to a pair of supportive housing projects set up by the province.

A B.C. Supreme Court order had said campers were to move out by the end of November but the city allowed the camp to remain until the supportive housing units were in place.

“It took a little longer to get people out of the tent city,” said Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog. Poor weather set back the opening dates for the supportive housing.

“The good news is that there is a whole bunch of people now who have some stability in their lives and are not occupying a tent city,” he said.

“You won’t see that concentration of drug dealing and criminality, which it became identified with over time.”

For now, the site will be secured, Krog said. “Obviously with a new council, we are looking at what we are going to be doing there. It is land that has enormous public value.”

The homeless problem in Nanaimo has not been solved, he said. “But the erection of these supportive housing units has made a pretty big dent in it and the addition of shelter beds is certainly some comfort to people who would otherwise have no place warm to sleep and stay at night.”

Campers took over the site in mid-May after being evicted from the lawn at city hall.

At one point, an estimated 300 campers filled the site, surrounded by chainlink fencing. Feelings ran high in Nanaimo, where some residents supported the campers while others were opposed.

RCMP watched as rallies were held by both sides. Nanaimo went to the Supreme Court of B.C. which eventually handed down an order for campers to leave.

Tensions mounted as the camp expanded. The city worried that fire could break out. Drug use was also a worry and health officials regularly patrolled the site.

In early October, homeless advocates occupied an empty school to protest a lack of housing. RCMP moved in and arrested protesters. Four people face charges of breaking and entering, said Listen Chen of the Alliance Against Displacement.

The Alliance held a press conference in Nanaimo this week to highlight what Chen called “the destruction of DisconTent City.”

“We were particularly wanting to communicate that there has been an escalating pattern of political repression.”

B.C. bought a property on Terminal Avenue and leased another city site on Labieux Road to open two supportive housing units, with a total of about 164 beds.

“A little help and a place to call home can be the difference between a life of despair, and hope for the future,” said Selina Robinson, minister of municipal affairs and housing.

The Island Crisis Care Society will be operating Newcastle Place at 250 Terminal Ave. North. Pacific Housing Advisory Association will manage the 2020 Labieux Road site. Nearby residents have opposed the location of the housing.

Each site will have at least three staff present at all times to help residents and meet any neigbourhood concerns. Security will be available on site 24 hours a day, the province said.

Angela McNulty-Buell, Pacifica’s director of support services, said: “Now that we have moved our tenants into the supportive housing, we are excited to build community, provide the needed supports and work closely with our neighbours to facilitate strong relationships.”

Violet Hayes, executive director of the Island Crisis Care Society, said they are looking forward to giving people “a warm, dry home.”

The province said the supportive housing is an interim solution. B.C. Housing and the city will continue to work for more opportunities to supply supportive and affordable housing in Nanaimo.