After 12 days, police have finally moved in on protesters occupying an apartment building in Burnaby.
Homeless people had taken over a three-storey apartment building in the 5000-block of Imperial Street, which is one of four low rent apartments in the area set for demolition.
At around 5 a.m., police moved in and enforced a court-ordered injunction, arresting seven people. Four people were released at the scene.
Three of those people reportedly face charges of civil contempt.
Burnaby RCMP say as long as protesters agree to stay away from the properties covered by the injunction they will not be required to appear in court. If protesters fail to obey the court injunction they will be compelled to appear in B.C. Supreme Court on civil contempt charges. Burnaby RCMP say at this time, they are not contemplating Criminal Code charges.
According to protesters, this building has become Burnaby’s only homeless shelter and there should be a moratorium on the destruction of affordable rental units.
“The fact that Burnaby got away with passing a re-zoning law that is within their jurisdiction and technically legal, and is now using that zoning law as an excuse to not engage with and not uphold their obligations as a municipality to protect the human rights of these tenants means we need better laws,” DJ Larkin from the Pivot Legal Society said.
More details to come.
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