Lawyers on both sides of a new homeless camp along downtown Vancouver’s waterfront were in B.C. Supreme Court Thursday arguing over an application for an injunction to clear the site.
But both sides will have to wait until next Tuesday to learn the encampment’s fate.
The camp, which has grown to about 80 tents, is in a parking lot between the CRAB Park and the Vancouver Helijet terminal along Waterfront Road, and is on land owned by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority.
The camp was established in mid-May, after the province moved residents of the Oppenheimer Park homeless camp into alternative housing.
Lawyers for the port argued that the situation on site is getting worse, citing public urination and defecation, discarded needles, and noise.
Lawyers for the homeless occupants argued the site is safer than the alternatives.
“I’m here because it’s safe. Every other camp I stay in in the downtown area I get rolled on by young gangster-type fellows, and they rob me blind,” said James Stevenson Lowe, who claimed when Oppenheimer was cleared he wasn’t offered housing.
“We’re going to fight it. We’re not going to go away without a fight.”
Oppenheimer Park has since been completely fenced in while it undergoes repairs.
The port filed the injunction application last month, naming camp organizer and homeless-rights activist Chrissy Brett.
The port authority says people in the encampment have refused to leave when asked.
— With files from Emily Lazatin