Homeless can stay at Langford park for now: ministry
VICTORIA Homeless campers evicted from tent cities in two locations in Saanich on Vancouver Island will be allowed to stay at Goldstream Provincial Park in Langford while the government considers its options.
“There is currently no deadline as outreach staff continue to assess the campers’ needs,” says a statement from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
Confusion reigned for most of the morning. On Wednesday night, the Environment Ministry closed the park and told the group of 30 homeless campers and everyone else camping in the park they had to leave. The RCMP set up a command centre.
B.C. Parks rangers guarded the park gates Thursday morning, allowing registered campers to leave, but not allowing cars or those on foot to enter. Police, support workers and homeless advocates, parks staff and police officers were allowed to go in and meet with the campers.
Around 11 a.m., B.C. Parks issued a statement saying the campers were being granted a 24-hour extension. But in the early afternoon, a spokesman for the environment ministry said that was a mistake and there is no deadline for the tent-city campers.
The reprieve is a hopeful sign of an understanding by the government that a co-ordinated approach by the agencies is needed, said John Heaney, the lawyer representing the campers.
“By being able to stay, there’s an understanding they need to be together and an understanding that the agencies after this will be better co-ordinated.”
Dispersing the campers from Saanich with nowhere for them to go but back onto the street, sleeping in “doorways and Dumpsters,” is not an answer, he said.
While the uncertainty dragged on, angry Langford residents got into a heated exchange with tentcity supporters. Darryl Wasilenkoff threatened to go into the camp and tear down the tents himself if the police weren’t going to.
Langford resident Brian Clouter maintains the campers are in the park solely to raise awareness of the issue of homelessness.
Kelowna’s Matthew Cote left the park with his partner one day into a three-day stay to find other accommodations. He said the tent city campsite was clean and that he was not disturbed by having to move.
Almost two dozen Goldstream Park neighbourhood residents were watching what was happening. They complained there had already been crime in the area. Some suggested that people protesting homelessness should make their case at the B.C. legislature rather than a provincial park.
Residents claiming to be from Langford said that one way or another, they wanted to see the campers removed Thursday.
Meanwhile, Victoria West resident Lise Wrigley said the campers should “absolutely ” be able to stay in the park and together.
An initial statement from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing said: “Following concerns expressed by the RCMP, the campground was closed to ensure public safety. People with reservations will be refunded. RCMP continues to work with park staff to ensure the safety of campers, the site and surrounding communities.
“The park is not an appropriate place for the establishment of a tent city. We urge those at Goldstream to work with staff to identify better housing solutions.”
“Solving this will require partnerships with regional and local government leaders to build appropriate and affordable housing. Unfortunately, while we already have 2,000 new modular homes in development across B.C., only one site for 21 units was identified in Victoria, and no other local governments within the (Capital Regional District) have identified land where we could build these homes. We remain committed to our offer to fund an additional 2,500 units of supportive housing across the province, including in this region, but delivering that housing will require willing partners at the local level. We cannot address homelessness alone; it requires all levels of government to come to the table.”