Five things: Other B.C. tent cities that have popped up in recent years

On Tuesday, Mayor Gregor Robertson met up with advocates and Downtown Eastside community members to discuss what the city can do about the need for social housing, as demonstrated by the tent city of about 50 people currently located at 58 West Hastings.

Vancouver isn’t the only B.C. municipality grappling with homelessness and there have been many other tent cities throughout the province pushing for more housing. Here are a few of the campaigns in recent years that have been established in Vancouver and other parts of B.C.:

Woodward’s 2002

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Many signs adorn the side of the old Woodward’s Building in November 2002. This one is on Abbott, north of Hastings. Colin Price/PNG files

The tent city has been credited with spurring the redevelopment of the Woodward’s Building and areas of the DTES.

Occupy Vancouver 2011

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Vancouver fire and rescue, city workers and police make a routine compliance check on the Occupy Vancouver squat at the Vancouver Art Gallery on Nov. 18, 2011.

The Vancouver chapter of the worldwide Occupy movement congregated on the north lawn of the Vancouver Art Gallery, where some 150 tents were pitched in November 2011. The movement highlighted economic inequality and in Vancouver the movement also gained support among DTES community members and social-housing advocates. After an earlier injunction was paused to allow protesters time to respond, a second request from the city to remove the tent city was granted.

Campers then relocated to Robson Square for a brief period, before again moving to Grandview Park just off Commercial Drive.

Oppenheimer Park 2014

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Last stand for holdout tenters and protesters on Oct. 16, 2014, as police and city workers wait for the last protesters to vacate Oppenheimer Park and remove their tents and personal belongings from the green space in East Vancouver. Mark van Manen/PNG files

The city eventually announced new shelter spaces and two social-housing buildings, before securing an injunction to remove the tent city in October.

Victoria 2015 — ongoing

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Residents at Tent City, also known as Super InTent City, are seen in Victoria on June 28. A B.C. judge had ordered the shutdown of a camp on the lawn of Victoria’s courthouse, where about 100 people had been living since last fall.

In the fall of 2015 campers began setting up on the lawn of Victoria’s courthouse, in a push for more shelter spaces and social housing. The population at the tent city has since grown to about 100, but has also attracted some “criminal” elements, leading a judge to grant an injunction early last month, allowing the province to remove the campers.

Plans last week to begin moving campers into shelter spaces was delayed, after B.C. Housing needed more time to complete renovations. The injunction’s deadline is Aug. 8.

Abbotsford 2013 — ongoing

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A man sorts his belongings inside a homeless camp on Gladys Avenue in Abbotsford on Oct. 22, 2015. Richard Lam/PNG files

In 2013, the City of Abbotsford was widely panned for its attempt to dismantle a tent city by dumping chicken manure on the encampment’s grounds. A judge later called the actions “disgraceful” in a ruling that said the homeless have a right to camp on public land.

Earlier this year the city issued eviction notices, asking the homeless to move from its Gladys Avenue camp and into a public park, which is in line with the earlier court ruling.

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