Campers living in Irving Park say they won’t leave until everyone sheltering there is given housing, but the CEO of the non-proft tasked with looking after the process says everyone willing to engage with a housing provider has been offered accommodations and units are available for those who want them.
A ban on sheltering in Irving Park came into effect Aug. 1, but about a dozen tents remained in the park on Saturday.
Darren, who has been living in the park for about a year, said bylaw officers arrived on Thursday morning with six trucks to enforce the shelter ban but backed off after facing opposition from campers and activists.
“They huddled — bylaw and cops — and after their huddle they got back into their trucks and started driving away,” he said, adding that they haven’t been back as of Saturday.
“We had a lot of support from the Stop the Sweeps people,” he said. “All the cameras were out, there was yelling.”
Shea Smith, who has been in and out of homelessness since 2018 and had a tent set up with his girlfriend and dog at Irving Park on Saturday, said that campers have since declared a “peaceful assembly” and won’t leave until they have been offered suitable alternatives.
Darren said he’s been offered housing and that there’s an ongoing process.
“But until I can close a door behind me, I don’t consider myself housed or helped,” he said.
Ruth Scherier, who lives about five blocks away and considers Irving her local park, said she showed up to a Saturday gathering at the park in support of the campers after witnessing a bylaw sweep and seeing how it affected people.
“I want to stay in touch with what’s going on here, see what we can do to support the people camping here,” she said.
The event, advertised online by the Stop the Sweeps Victoria group as a “family community gathering,” brought about 20 people to the park for lawn games, sign-painting and music.
Pacifica Housing CEO Carolina Ibarra said her group was asked to provide housing for anyone sheltering in the park on or before April 18 who was willing to engage in the process.
Eighteen people were given housing, as well as two people who went to live in shelters, she said.
“Everyone had moved indoors or was in line for housing in June, and then a new group arrived.”
Pacifica worked to find available places for the new arrivals, but as the deadline of Aug. 1 neared, campers became anxious about housing availability, she said. “I think a lot of anxiety started to form with the people living in the park. Some people at the end weren’t engaging with us anymore.”
Ibarra said seven units under renovation are available for people sheltering in Irving Park or in Vic West Park, where overnight camping is also no longer allowed after Aug. 1.
Those still living in Irving Park are welcome to visit Pacifica’s downtown outreach centre, she said. “Everyone currently living there can engage with us anytime and we will help them find a home.”
In recent months, city council has added more and more parks to its no-sheltering list.
With the ban on sheltering at Irving and Vic West Parks, only three parks with washroom facilities in Victoria continue to allow overnight sheltering — Pemberton Park, Gonzales Park and Oaklands Park.
A B.C. Court of Appeal ruling in 2009 found that in the absence of available shelter beds, it’s unconstitutional to prohibit someone from erecting temporary shelter in a park.
Ibarra said while there is a shortage of housing in Victoria, parks are not where people should live. “The narrative that there is nothing and we might as well give up and try and make these parks a home I think is really, really counterproductive,” she said. “Individuals who are unhoused need a home, and they need support. They don’t need a park, and I think that’s often forgotten in all of the good intentions.”
