‘We don’t think it’s safe’: B.C. to help Abbotsford clear out ‘problematic’ encampment

The province is working with the City of Abbotsford and various non-profits to “clear up” what Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon describes as a “very problematic” encampment of unhoused people living on an empty plot of Crown land.

Over the past few years, the site of what was supposed to be the Lonzo Park and Ride has become home to a number of people in need of shelter. The land is now covered in tents, tarped structures, old RVs, and garbage.

“I’ve had a chance to go there, on site with the mayor, and quite frankly we don’t think it’s safe for the residents and we don’t think it’s safe for the community at large,” Kahlon told Global News on Tuesday.

“We’re a couple of weeks away from announcing our next steps on it.”

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The housing minister’s comments come just one day after an RV that was used for shelter at the site burned down. No one was injured in the fire, but Abbotsford police said the smoke and flames contributed to a multi-vehicle collision involving a semi-truck on Highway 1.

In an emailed statement, the police force described the Lonzo encampment as the “most violent” in the city. It said businesses in the area are “victimized daily by thefts” and drug use on their properties, and the incidents are getting worse.

Knives, axes, bear spray, machetes, real and imitation firearms, and ammunition have all been seized from the camp.

Since 2015, police said the number of violent crime calls near the site has almost quadrupled — from 31 to 119 in 2022. There have been 37 violent crime calls for the area so far this year and 686 total calls for service.

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Abbotsford firefighters are no longer allowed to go there without police, added Chief Const. Mike Serr.

“This is just one location that’s really drawing a lot of resources. It just because of the level of threats that are posed here, with the occupants that are here that are threatening to the staff,” he told Global News.

“The challenge for us is we don’t have a lot of control. This is, as you know, Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure lands.”

To date, Abbotsford police have not received a provincial request for assistance cleaning up the camp.

The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure deferred a request for comment on this story to Kahlon.

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Abbotsford Mayor Ross Siemens said he has been in touch with both Transportation and Infrastructure and BC Housing, as the province “won’t move people from an encampment unless there’s housing provided.” He urged action soon, as the residents of the encampment have mental health and addictions needs that must be met and they should not be forced to live in “squalor.”

“These are human beings that have severe illness issues. We need more supports,” Siemens said in an interview.

“It’s frustrating, but it’s complex right across the province … The longer it takes, the more the encampment gets entrenched and the more challenging the issues become.”

The mayor said there are seven such encampments along Highway 1 that are on provincial land, but none present the same level of challenge as the Lonzo Park and Ride site.

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Global News asked several residents of the encampment for an interview, but none agreed.

Sophie Yankowski, a server at the CrossRoads Restaurant across the street, said she hopes the province acts quickly, too. Restaurant staff have to clean up garbage left on their property by encampment residents daily and often have to clear out loiterers, she explained.

“Lots of customers actually do complain and blame us,” Yankowski told Global News. “It is actually pretty bad sometimes. They’ll be piled up against our door in the morning and even on rainy days and stuff, they’ll be trying to pile under the front part of the door.”

Yankowski said she was assaulted by a resident of the encampment who had used the restaurant’s bathroom. She said the woman had locked herself in the bathroom, and after being asked to leave, the woman tried to strangle her, ripped her clothing and broke her necklace.

“That was really terrifying,” she recalled. “It definitely makes me feel a little more uneasy and nervous to put myself in that situation again.”

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Christine Mackie of the Fraser Health Authority said none of her staff or care providers on site have reported any violence directed towards them. The health authority contracts the Lookout Housing and Health Society to operate an overdose prevention site by the Lonzo encampment.

“You can’t really be homeless and be healthy, and of course substance use playing a part in there just creates a whole other concern for people,” Mackie said.

“We just want to prevent death and connect people to services that will benefit their life.”

While a social housing structure exists near the encampment, those accommodations are full. Kahlon said the province has recently funded 480 new units of transition housing, supportive housing and more in Abbotsford, in addition to purchasing two motels to get people indoors in the short term.

“We know there’s a need to do more,” he said. “Poverty is expensive and it’s vitally important that we get the housing build, get people the foundational supports they need in place, because if you don’t, there is an additional cost on society.”

Editor’s Note: This is a corrected story. A previous version misspelled the last name of Abbotsford Police Chief Const. Mike Serr.