Victoria City Councillor Stephen Hammond put forth a late motion in today’s Committee of the Whole meeting to put an end to any and all daytime sheltering in Victoria.
This would mean those who erect tents and shelters anywhere in Victoria would have to take them down during the day.
Hammond says he put forth this motion in response to a paramedic being kicked in the face on Thursday, July 11th, which prompted a response from police, creating a volatile situation with the unhoused community on Pandora Avenue.
Following this situation, VicPD announced that first responders would no longer be able to provide medical aid to those who need it in the 900-block of Pandora Avenue without a police presence.
Victoria’s obligations to unhoused
Back in 2008, the Supreme Court of British Columbia ruled that the City’s bylaws were unconstitutional because they did not allow unhoused people to erect temporary shelters.
Because there were not enough shelter beds to house these individuals, as per the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, they should be allowed to lawfully shelter themselves.
In 2009, the City lost its appeal to this ruling, but the Court of Appeal did clarify that those who need to should be allowed to erect “temporary overnight shelter”, not permanent shelter.
Following this clarification, Victoria amended its bylaws to allow for temporary overnight sheltering in some parks which had washroom facilities on site, but only between the hours of 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. (8 p.m. to 7 a.m. during Daylight Saving Time).
Since that time, over the past two years, Victoria’s city council has been slowly banning temporary overnight sheltering in several of their parks which initially allowed for shelters to be erected.
As of this publication, Oaklands Park, Victoria West Park, Irving Park, Gonzales Park and Pemberton Park are the only places where temporary overnight sheltering is permitted.
Current bylaws do not allow for daytime sheltering.
Councillor Hammond’s motion
Hammond’s motion will essentially have City staff determine what it would take to have unhoused people who do not dismantle their shelters by the given time dictated by City bylaws forced to do so.
This includes in all parks and city boulevards, such as on Pandora Avenue and anywhere an unhoused individual decides to shelter.
The motion suggested that the City explore processes, required personnel and costs that would be associated with this endeavour—historically, this means providing a significant budget increase to VicPD, as Hammond pointed out in the meeting.
Additionally, he would like to have staff provide an realistic timeline and report to council if any of the CIty’s major projects would need to be put on hold to divert funding towards this.
Hammond would also like City staff to work with VicPD, the Victoria Fire Department, BC Emergency Health Services, the BC government and other relevant agencies to “ameliorate the harm arising from illegal daytime sheltering.”
The Committee of the Whole Meeting
During the Committee of the Whole meeting, Hammond read his motion to his colleagues in which he recognized that people of Victoria are concerned for the unhoused who set up shelters, because they have nowhere to go and nowhere to keep their possessions.
He posed to his fellow councillors that they need to decide whether to maintain the status quo, or to find a way to enforce the current ‘no daytime sheltering’ bylaws.
“We cannot move people unless we have someplace for them to go,” said Marianne Alto as she pointed to the fact that the lion’s share of the work regarding housing Victoria’s unhoused individuals rests on the Province’s shoulders.
Alto also said that there is much to be done and resources will likely need to be allocated to the efforts, but there is progress being made.
Councillor Marg Gardiner spoke and said that she has always been in opposition to the community on Pandora Avenue and believes “there should be a stigma” around drug use.
“This will not somehow solve homelessness,” explained Councillor Jeremy Caradonna as he said that the notion of the City ending homelessness is “absurd”.
Caradonna noted that he will support the motion because it fundamentally is just asking staff to report back with possible solutions.
Councillor Krista Loughton offered an amendment to add that people with lived-experience of being unhoused in Victoria and Indigenous Peoples be included in the conversation, so as to approach the situation from a human rights standpoint.
Gardiner was the only councillor opposed to the inclusion of people with lived experience being involved.
“We cannot arrest our way out of this,” said Councillor David Thompson.
Thompson also noted that he believes this is a matter that may take decades to improve upon, as it stems from decades of neglect and cuts to social services.
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Councillor Loughton says she believes that if staff suggest enforcement alone, it would send shockwaves through the unhoused community.
She would rather see this report bring back ideas to help support compliance with bylaws and innovative approaches to avoid harm to the unhoused.
When city council voted on the motion, after a long discussion and debate, they voted 8-1 in favour of having staff look into this matter and report back.
Councillor Susan Kim was the only councillor in opposition to the motion.
Kim said she did not want to support the motion because she doesn’t believe it goes far enough, as she believes the City needs to analyze their own internal practices and bylaw processes.
She says she doesn’t want this to end in the criminalization of being unhoused.
Our Place Society’s position on the motion
Our Place Society’s Executive Director Julian Daly told Victoria Buzz that his organization has been calling for action on Pandora for over a year now.
“It’s a crying shame that our fellow citizens are reduced to living how they do on Pandora,” said Daly.
“We want to see people supported to a better place in terms of their shelter, housing and mental health.”
He says Our Place welcomes action and support from the City to end camping and homelessness and hopes this step toward better leadership will help mitigate the human misery being experienced on Pandora Avenue.
“It’s crucial now that appropriate shelter spaces and mental health supports are made available to bring about ending street homelessness in a humane and effective manner, with all those who have a piece of the solution working together to give this the greatest chance of success,” Daly explained.
He added that if those are in place and meaningful teamwork can be accomplished, Victoria can end street homelessness and camping in Victoria, but without proper supports and adequate solutions it will not work well.
