The Chronicle Herald (Provincial)
Homeless woman sent packing from park
Robin Tress got more than she bargained for on an early morning walk with her dog through Dartmouth Common on Wednesday.
She was a witness to an eviction of a homeless woman.
“I just think it’s gross and disgusting that they’re evicting people who clearly had nowhere to go, when they’re not hurting anyone or doing anything wrong,” Tress said.
It was around 8 a.m. when Tress was walking through Dartmouth Common that she noticed a police car had pulled up in the park next to a tent.
“They were talking to the person in the tent trying to get them to go,” she said. “I hung around a bit and I talked to the person in the tent and was like, ‘Hey, I’m your neighbour, I live around here. Can I help you?’”
Tress said she stayed for a while to make sure the woman living in the tent was alright. She said she asked the officers if they could give the woman some space so she could pack up her belongings, but they refused.
A Halifax Regional Police spokesperson said a city compliance officer requested assistance in telling a person they would not be able to continue to stay in the park. The HRP spokesperson said the person was made aware of the park bylaws, gathered their belongings and left the park without incident.
GO TO CHURCH STREET
Tress said she overheard police tell the woman to “go to Church Street” but didn’t say what that was or how to get there.
The modulars built by the city and operated by the provincial government through Out of the Cold are in a former parking lot on Alderney Drive, between Church Street and Flotilla Lane.
Tress called some friends who were more knowledgeable about homeless shelters and was able to provide the woman with some ideas for
where she could set up a tent and where she might find shelter.
Tress said the police officers helped the woman take down the tent and then left. Another person arrived while the tent was being dismantled and Tress believes that person might have also been staying there.
“They didn’t make them leave the park, they just didn’t want them to have their tent there,” Tress said.
Tress, who lives nearby, said she thinks the tent might have been around for a few days but it hasn’t been there for months.
Talking to the woman she had never met before, Tress said she told her that she was going to hang out at the library and had no idea what she would do Wednesday night.
CALLING ON COUNCIL
In a phone interview Wednesday, Mayor Mike Savage said he didn’t know of this incident, but the city wants options for people who are homeless.
Earlier this month, council sent back an encampment plan back to city staff for tweaking, and until then there would be no action. Several councillors expressed their concerns about police enforcement.
“I would never say absolutely because the police have to enforce the laws for the health and safety for the citizens, but we haven’t been removing people from parks until we make sure we have places for them to go.”
Vicky Levack, spokeswoman for Permanent, Accessible, Dignified and Safe (PADS) Community Network, said in a statement released Wednesday afternoon that they are “deeply disturbed by these actions.”
“Once again HRM has shown that it is not interested in actually helping their unhoused constituents,” Levack said in the statement. “They are more concerned about keeping this homelessness away from public view.”
They are calling on Halifax regional council to “immediately clarify their policies with respect to engaging unhoused people seeking shelter in public parks, and to explicitly commit to respect the human rights of unhoused people trying to survive in the midst of a housing crisis where indoor sheltering options are unavailable.”