4 years and 3 court cases later, City of Prince George wins case to shut down homeless camp

Yahoo

5 hours ago

The City of Prince George has won its latest bid to close a downtown homeless encampment that has been a political football ever since it was first established in 2021.
The ruling was handed down this week by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Bruce Elwood and distributed to the media by the city.
It found that the city has significantly increased the number of available shelter spaces and affordable housing units in the north-central B.C. city, which serves a population of approximately 90,000.
It agreed that the city had demonstrated plans were in place to further increase the available housing units in order to accommodate the remaining residents in the camp, who, it was agreed in court, number approximately 20.
However, Elwood also ruled that the city must be prepared to allow for overnight sheltering for residents who are unable to find available supports elsewhere.
"Today's decision doesn't solve homelessness," said Eric Depenau, the city's manager of administrative services, at a Friday afternoon news conference at city hall.
"We have done good work... but we know that more needs to be done."
The city said that moving forward, those who were living in the camp as of July will be allowed to remain until they receive an offer of housing, at which point they will have seven days to vacate.
Any newcomers seeking outdoor shelter will be allowed to stay at 498 Ottawa Street, a smaller lot in the current encampment, between 7 p.m. and 9 a.m.
The city says it will now be using a "phased approach" to close and remediate the encampment site.
The ruling marks what may be the final chapter in an issue that has highlighted the growing visibility of homelessness in communities outside of Canada's major metro areas over the past decade.
Previous shutdown attempts failed
The encampment on Lower Patricia Boulevard, known as Moccasin Flats, was first established in the spring of 2021 on city-owned land, on an empty dirt lot between an industrial yard and a steep hill leading to a residential neighbourhood.
Over the years, its population has fluctuated from fewer than a dozen to close to 100.
Though homelessness had previously been an issue in the city, it was the first time in recent memory that a permanent encampment housing such a large population had been seen in Prince George, which bills itself as B.C.'s northern capital, and has sparked a multi-year debate about how best to handle its presence.
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While expressing sympathy for the plight of those who lived there, many nearby residents raised concerns about public safety and disorder stemming from the presence of the camp, which have included shootings and multiple fires consistent with arson attempts.
At the same time, camp residents and outreach groups pointed out the greatest danger was to those who had nowhere else to go, and argued the camp was necessary as long as there weren't enough viable options for indoor sleeping available.
It was also pointed out by groups, including the B.C. Assembly of First Nations, that a majority of encampment residents were Indigenous, many with direct family ties to residential schools, and could not be treated as a simple public safety issue.
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That argument first made its way to the B.C. Supreme Court in August 2021, when the city applied for an injunction to shut the camp down. But in October, Chief Justice Christopher E. Hinkson ruled the city had failed to prove there were viable alternatives to the camp, and ordered it to be allowed to stand.
The ruling was upheld in a 2022 decision, after the city partially demolished a portion of the camp, which a separate justice said was in violation of the Hinkson ruling. The city later apologized.
During this time, the encampment caught the attention of then-B.C. housing minister David Eby, who said he didn't believe permanent homeless camps were a safe or viable option and offered to collaborate with the city on finding a more permanent solution.
After becoming premier, Eby announced Prince George as one of the first cities to pilot his new HEART and HEARTH programs, which were billed as a way to "rapidly respond to encampments to better support people sheltering outdoors to move inside."
New units built during this time include the new transitional housing facility in Atco trailers on Third Avenue near the encampment and complex care spaces available a few blocks away.
Phased shutdown
In his ruling released Friday, Justice Elwood noted the change in the city's approach to homelessness over the past four years.
"Much has changed since the city failed to persuade [the courts] that there was sufficient available housing in 2021," he wrote. "The HEART & HEARTH initiative, the memorandum of understanding between the province and the city and the construction of the Third Avenue Site all reflect tangible progress and concerted efforts by government to address the needs of the occupants of the encampment."
However, he noted he was still unable to be certain that the new shelter spaces would be accessible to everyone currently living in the encampment.
For one, he found that the units currently available are fewer than the number of people — between 10 and 20 — living in the encampment.
Lawyer Claire Kanigan and co-counsel Casey St. Germain, representing residents of Moccasin Flats, said they found there to be at least 18 residents remaining at the encampment and said there are only three rooms currently ready to be occupied at the Thrd Avenue site.
Kanigan said there's no timeline as to when more beds will be made available and that the city should be able to prove they have enough beds before they're permitted to close the site.
"The basic calculation of number of beds to number of people is foundational," she said. "It is not an overly onerous burden to meet."
But Elwood found the proposed solution from the city and B.C. Housing was reasonable — in which the camp would be allowed to stay open until its residents had been offered housing — and was enough to move forward.
Outdoor sheltering must still be allowed: judge
Another issue raised in the ruling, though, was city bylaws that have been passed barring overnight outdoor sheltering elsewhere in the city, as well as limiting daytime camping.
With the closure of Moccasin Flats, Elwood wrote, the impact would be that "there will be nowhere in Prince George where a homeless person can lawfully erect shelter from the elements, store their possessions or even rest during the day," he wrote.
"The potential lack of basic shelter during the day is an important consideration year-round. Extreme daytime heat during the summer is also dangerous for people experiencing homelessness. Those who have no other accessible option must be allowed to rest and shelter themselves."
As a result, he said, the terms of his ruling "cannot be absolute" and exceptions must be made, however rare, for residents who cannot access other shelter.
Mayor Simon Yu, who was elected in 2022 in part on a promise to build housing for people living in the encampment, said he remains committed to the goal of resolving homelessness in the city for good.
"It has been a long road and there is much more work to be done to address homelessness in our community," he said in a written statement.