Residents of a tent city in East Vancouver will have to pack up and move after losing a court battle to maintain their encampment.
The Lu’ma Native Housing Society, which leased the land at 946-950 Main Street from the City of Vancouver earlier this month, won the injunction Monday after initially trying to force campers out with a notice of trespass two weeks ago.
The court has given residents until Jun. 28 to move out of the Main Street camp.
It’s been two months since the tent city popped up, and just over a month since the City of Vancouver lost its own injunction bid to close it down.
In that case, a judge found the city couldn’t prove that campers would cause irreparable harm to the property and that they had nowhere else to go.
On Monday, a BC Supreme Court judge ruled the circumstances were different — though granted campers an extra 24 hours on the site, he said to give the city time to put in place transport and moving assistance for the residents.
He also made a point of saying the residents who spoke in court testified to the “hopelessness and repetitiveness” of their situation, adding they’ve heard the promises from politicians over the years to fix homelessness, with nothing changing.
Meanwhile, tent city resident Crystal said she is dreading being moved to a shelter and that there’s a community at the camp she doesn’t want to lose.
“Because we keep an eye on everybody, everybody’s safe, we always check on them, make sure everybody’s fine and if they need anything then we make sure we get them what they need. Just a tight little community. It’s good.”
Maria Wallstam from the homeless activist group Alliance Against Displacement was not feeling optimistic before the decision came down.
“No, because it’s private property now, I think our chances of fighting it are very slim and the Lu’ma Native Housing Society, they’re also asking that tent city residents evacuate the site by tomorrow at noon.”
Walstrom said the tent city currently has around 40 residents.
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