On Sunday, December 1st, a group of activists called the Victoria Liberation Front, along with a group of unhoused Victorians, planned on setting up an encampment on the Provincial Court.
However, fences were put up around the site these activists intended on occupying, so the group relocated their protest to Centennial Square.
According to the protest organizer, Martin Girard, this was actually the plan all along.
Girard says he purposely made the courthouse a red herring in order to set up the encampment somewhere more meaningful.
“This of course left many questioning my sanity, as such a bold attempt would obviously be thwarted, and indeed the courthouse grounds were fenced off—just as I wanted,” he wrote in a blog post about the protest.
“Because the real target for the tent city was actually Centennial Square, right by City Hall, both the best spot in town for this purpose and the last spot council members want to see an encampment.”
The encampment lasted only one night, as they decided not to return on Monday, December 2nd.
“The Victoria Liberation Front is already plotting its next action, and will keep resorting to every legal and extralegal means of retaliation at its disposal until the council either complies with the requirements of its office under human rights law or resigns,” Girard told Victoria Buzz.
The Provincial Court has left the fencing up that surrounds the park beside the courthouse so that if the encampment organizers decide to move their protest action from Centennial Square, they will be unable to set up there.
“The fencing was erected to ensure the courthouse and grounds remain accessible to courthouse staff, users and the public,” said a spokesperson for the Ministry of Citizens’ Services.
“The situation is being monitored daily and decisions on when to remove the fencing will be made in consultation with sheriffs and courthouse staff.”
The reasons behind this protest action were prompted by the treatment of Victoria’s unhoused community, according to Girard.
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Recently, fencing has also been erected around the majority of boulevard space on Pandora Avenue and bylaw has been pushing unhoused community members off of Pandora Avenue—enforcing the City’s no sheltering bylaws.
This process is known colloquially as conducting ‘sweeps.’
Additionally, in recent years, courts have asserted the right of unhoused individuals to sleep and shelter from the elements, which trumps City bylaws that prohibit sheltering in parks when there are not enough shelter spaces available.
Victoria’s city council received a letter in July from the BC Civil Liberties Association and the Pivot Legal Society, warning of legal action under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Since that time, two unhoused Victorians have each filed a complaint with the BC Human Rights Tribunal.
Along with the above, a petition for judicial review of the latest amendment to the Parks Regulation Bylaw, prohibiting overnight sheltering at Irving and Vic West Parks has been filed at the BC Supreme Court.
This was the first protest action planned by Girard under the banner of the Victoria Liberation Front, and he says it will not be the last.
