As opposition grows, B.C. puts brakes on homeless camp eviction bill

Article content

Opposition is mounting against new provincial legislation that states municipalities seeking to dismantle homeless encampments must ensure that “reasonably available” alternative shelter is accessible.

The backlash was enough to prompt Premier David Eby to announce Thursday he would put the brakes on implementing the bill to give the government more time to consult with municipalities.

Article content

Article content

The legislation defines the basic sheltering needs of homeless people in B.C. as places that are staffed, able to be occupied overnight, and have access to a bathroom, shower and one free meal a day at or near the site.

But the Union of B.C. Municipalities and a coalition of B.C. lawyers and housing advocates are calling for the scrapping of Bill C-45, citing concerns that range from a lack of available shelter spaces to the possibility of arbitrary evictions undermining the rights of vulnerable, unhoused people.

The proposed legislation comes at a time when battles continue between homeless residents and many B.C. municipalities, some of which, including Vancouver, have chosen to evict people living in tent cities on public streets and parks.

Other cities, including Prince George and Nanaimo, have applied for B.C. Supreme Court injunctions to legally evict residents from living in public spaces.

The UBCM said Thursday that it is worried the bill may limit municipalities’ ability to manage homeless encampments by forcing cities to “provide evidence (to courts) that there is reasonably available shelter space to the quality outlined in the legislation.”

Article content

Article content

“It is highly unlikely that any community in B.C. has sufficient shelter space for all unhoused persons … It would be practically impossible for local governments seeking an injunction to meet this test,” the UBCM said in a news release.

“A likely unintended consequence of the amendment is that unhoused persons will be able to set up shelter in parks, sports fields, city halls and sidewalks, knowing that local governments will not be granted an injunction for decampment.”

In October 2021, Prince George was denied eviction powers by the B.C. Supreme Court, due to a cited lack of adequate shelter space to accommodate the encampment residents.

But other cities, such as Nanaimo, have been granted temporary injunctions. In September 2018, homeless residents living at a waterfront encampment had to pack up and leave within 21 days.

Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog, a former NDP MLA, said the legislation confirms what legal case law has already established: “Once an encampment is established, chances are the courts are going to let it stay there.”

It’s problematic, Krog said, to see the NDP government relying on shelters, which are “stop gaps” in the mental health and addictions criss.

Article content

He urged the province to adequately invest in supportive housing and maintains some individuals with serious mental health issues require need involuntary care.

“There’s a sense of helplessness at the municipal level,” he said. “Those solutions can only come from the province. They don’t come from municipalities. So we deal with the rough end of things. The street disorder, the crime, the frustrations of businesses and workers and tourists and everybody else.”

Meanwhile, a B.C. grassroots coalition with more than 100 members, comprised mostly of lawyers and housing advocates, has signed an open letter to the province opposing the bill.

“The bill undermines the human rights of those made most vulnerable by the current model of housing and shelter provision. It reinforces the stigma-based, punitive approach that local and other governments have taken to tent cities,” reads the letter.

Coalition member Stepan Wood, a law professor at the University of B.C., says the legislation is trying to tell courts that “if municipalities meet its vague and barebones description of adequate shelter, they can evict tent city residents. According to the bill’s definition, a 24-hour Tim Hortons could fall under that category.”

Article content

In the wake of the backlash, Eby on Thursday said he has asked Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon to delay implementing the bill to give the province more time to consult local municipalities.