The owner of a property where about 20 homeless former tent-city residents descended on Tuesday with their camping gear says he tried stopping them but they “kept on coming.”
“It’s unfair — I didn’t think this was possible,” said Sam Seera, who owns the 1.4-acre rural property at 5090 West Saanich Rd. with Gurpal and Pavnit Aujla.
On Wednesday, Seera handed a “one-month notice to end tenancy for cause” to the only tenant who was at home.
Seera said that when he was told by the District of Saanich on Tuesday 20 campers were setting up on his property, he thought he could simply evict them for trespassing.
After phoning the district, its mayor and police, Seera was directed to the Residential Tenancy Branch. “I’m trying everything I can do,” said Seera, who has hired a lawyer. “I’m caught in the middle. They said they were invited by David [Shebib],” a tenant. That meant the only way to get rid of the campers was to evict the tenants.
The six-bedroom, five bathroom home on the cluttered property is leased to Andrew McLean, the son of fringe Saanich mayoral candidate David Shebib, who invited the homeless campers to move onto the property.
Rooms are informally sublet to about four other tenants for a total of six in the house.
Seera said when he spoke to McLean on Wednesday, he said he was not aware of what his father had done. “He was very upset for himself and for his tenants, who are angry and who pay him rent,” said Seera, adding that Shebib has gone to Bella Coola.
McLean returned from Salt Spring Island on Wednesday night to deal with the situation, said Seera, who picked him up from the ferry.
McLean told the campers they were trespassing and asked them nicely to leave, but they refused, Seera said. The landlord called Shebib a coward for inviting the campers “and leaving his son to deal with this mess."
Meanwhile, the tenants met to discuss their frustration over the eviction notice and possible health hazards, as approximately 25 people try to use one of the home’s bathrooms, on a septic system.
The landlord said McLean asked police if he could evict the campers for trespassing, but was told Shebib as a tenant had a right to invite guests. “It’s not right,” said Seera. “If [Shebib] wants to have a protest, he can have it on his own property or government land, but not my property.”
Shebib, a retired junk seller, ran in all 13 regional mayoral races in 2014 and two in 2011.
He said he offered the homeless campers shelter because nobody else would.
Because neither Shebib nor McLean was on the property on Wednesday, Seera gave the eviction notice to a tenant named Paul, who declined to give the Times Colonist his last name.
Paul, who works part time moving furniture, said he has lived at the house for a few years and didn’t know the campers had been invited.
“It doesn’t surprise me — Dave’s got a big heart and he’s a politically active guy,” said Paul, who doesn’t want to move out. The eviction notice affects all of the tenants.
Seera said he is concerned about cleanup, storage and possible legal costs.
Camp organizer Chrissy Brett said the campers plan to stay until the municipal election on Oct. 20.
“The invitation was extended with goodwill and intention,” said Brett, adding the campers feel they have been shunted from place to place in their search for a safe haven. They spent five months at Saanich’s Regina Park and moved to Goldstream Provincial Park on Sept. 18 via Rudd Park and provincial green space off Ravine Way. After two weeks at Goldstream, they were forced to leave by B.C. Parks, since that’s the limit on camping in a provincial park.
“They are all somebody’s family, all somebody’s child, brother or sister or cousin and they belong somewhere and not just on a rubber mat or at two separate shelters that would split up couples,” said Brett.
The Victoria Native Friendship Centre seasonal shelter at 231 Regina Ave. had offered about 10 spaces for the campers. It’s open 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. and has 25 new mattresses, facilities, and services. If residents return nightly, beds are dedicated for them.
The centre said it could not house the entire group of 20-plus campers because it isn’t appropriate for couples, people needing gender-based quarters, or pets, since the residents would be housed in an open gymnasium.
B.C. Housing said two of the 20 campers from Goldstream park were sent to the former Tally Ho Hotel, purchased last year by the Victoria Cool Aid Society for supportive housing.
The rest were offered mats at shelters including Rock Bay Landing, Sandy Merriman Shelter and the Arbutus shelter, according to B.C. Housing. Some ended up back on the streets in Victoria, said Brett.
Many shelters are not open during the day, which is difficult for people with mental-health challenges who need around-the-clock services, or who have medical challenges and need to be constantly near a toilet, for instance, said Brett.
A portable toilet, paid for through donations, will be delivered to the West Saanich property for campers, said Brett.
Although Seera said he has tried to evict Shebib before, the rent on the property is paid on time and when ordered to clean it up, Shebib has complied.
“We’ve been really nice but this has gone too far,” said Seera.
