The drive through Oak Bay’s affluent Uplands neighbourhood is in stark contrast to the tent city that has set up camp off a scenic drive at Cattle Point.
Seventeen tents inhabit a gravel parking lot across from Cattle Point.
Oak Bay police said Wednesday night they wanted the campers gone by 9 a.m. Camp leader Chrissy Brett said the homeless campers’ plan is to stay a week or so, as there is no bylaw requiring them to move.
The protest camp is asking all municipalities in the Capital Region to create a plan to address homelessness, citing Victoria as the only city actively working on solutions.
Police were not on the scene by 9:20 a.m.
Tents are one metre apart to address fire regulations. There is a public washroom nearby. The campers said they are not interfering with indigenous vegetation and are respecting the area.
Music is playing, coffee is on and neighbours walking by look on curiously.
The roving group of homeless campers moved to Oak Bay from their former site near the Saanich police parking lot. Brett said police prevented the campers from returning to Saanich’s Rudd Park, so they moved to Cattle Point in Uplands Park.
“Oak Bay currently doesn’t have a camping bylaw,” she said, adding that it’s unlikely one will be passed two days before the municipal election. “So I think it will give us a week or two.”
B.C. Housing said campers were informed Monday that they would need to leave the Saanich site within 48 hours. It was chosen because it is adjacent to the municipal land offered by Saanich to house up to 60 modular homes offered by the province.
Brett said the campers are no closer to finding adequate housing and the shelters “are all full.”
B.C. Housing confirmed shelters are operating near capacity. “However, the outreach workers continue to work with the campers as spaces become available,” the agency said.
The 20 remaining campers — down from the 115 who were at Regina Park — have faced criticism for turning down offers of shelter beds and lodging. But the campers have said they don’t want to be split up and that staying in overnight shelters would leave them without shelter, services and facilities during the day.
The campers set up tents and structures on a gravel area between Beach Drive and a waterfront roadway winding into Cattle Point. It is surrounded by trees and is across the road from the northern-most boat launch at Cattle Point.
It was a clear quiet night as campers put up their tents and unpacked belongings. With no lighting nearby, some had headlamps on for visibility. A couple of people sat by a propane fire.
There were few other people in the area at 9 p.m. By that time, the campers’ property had been unloaded from trucks and distributed around the grounds.
Oak Bay police Sgt. Jim Hull said he spoke to Brett and she told him they won’t be leaving. “They’ve been told they have to be gone by 9 a.m.,” said Hull.
Cattle Point is part of Uplands Park, which covers about 75 acres. It is known for its natural Garry oak woodlands and related ecosystems, wildlife, boat launches and scenery. It is considered a prime spot to view the night sky.
“The park has one of the greatest concentrations of rare plant species in all of Canada,” states the municipality of Oak Bay’s website.
Since setting up in Saanich’s Regina Park in April, the campers have gone to Rudd Park and Ravine Way in Saanich, Goldstream Provincial Park, a private property on West Saanich Road, and provincial land off the Patricia Bay Highway near Saanich municipal hall.
