Thursday, March 28, 2024

Saanich tent city injunction hearing adjourned until end of August

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The BC Supreme Court has granted a two week adjournment in the hearing for an injunction against the tent city encampment at Regina Park.

On July 24th, the District of Saanich announced that it would be seeking an injunction to force residents of Regina Park to vacate the premises.

The first hearing took place on Monday, August 13th during which a tent city representative asked the judge for a two-week injunction, as their lawyer was away on vacation and could not be present in court.

This extra time will also give encampment representatives more time to prepare a response to the 1,000 page injunction secured by the council.

Saanich argues against increasing fire hazard

On July 29th, the District of Saanich was served a fire order by Emergency Management BC, which was issued to tent city representatives at the hearing.

Residents of the encampment have 72 hours to comply with the order which requires them to do the following:

  • Separate all temporary shelters by 1 metre so as to prevent the rapid spread of fire,
  • Remove flammable tarpaulins,
  • Position all entrances of temporary shelters to face an exit route, and place them at least 3 metres away from combustible brush,
  • Get rid of tents that are positioned within 3 metres of a combustible fence or structure,
  • Store all propane cylinders in a secure place, away from exit routes,
  • Get rid of all open flame lighting and heating sources from personal temporary shelters,
  • Get rid of combustible household furniture from the site,
  • Remove flammable construction materials, wood pallets, lumber, flooring, carpet, and other combustible storage from the site,
  • Separate open-flame cooking equipment by at least 3 metres and restrain from using under combustible overhangs,
  • Prohibit smoking on site.

The District of Saanich was against the adjournment of the hearing, arguing that as the encampment grows, the fire hazard continues to increase.

In the end, the adjournment was granted by the judge, and the hearing will resume in the week of August 27th.

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Brishti Basu
Former Senior Staff Writer and Content Manager at Victoria Buzz.

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