Downtown Eastside - DTES Issues

[Nites]

Tent city at Vancouver's Strathcona Park growing, no enforcement of bylaw on removing tents in the morning

A new bylaw that allows overnight camping in parks — but requires tents to be taken down by 7 a.m. — is not being enforced at Strathcona Park, where a tent city continues to grow.

On Thursday there were 311 tents in the park, which accounts for about 80 per cent of the green space in the neighbourhood, according to the Strathcona Residents Association.

he park board passed the bylaw on July 15 by a 4-3 vote, to conform to a 2009 Supreme Court ruling that said seeking refuge in public spaces when other shelter is unavailable is a constitutional right.

“This is a super-complex problem with a lot of nuance,” said Katie Lewis, vice-president of the Strathcona Residents Association. “We are supportive, but of a smaller encampment, maybe 20 or 25 tents, and not in a public park.

“The park board has told us bluntly they are not going to enforce” the bylaw, she said.

Lewis feels there is lots of blame to share out among the city, province, feds and the park board. Most of the original campers, about 30 or so, moved from a waterfront lot next to CRAB Park five weeks ago, after the port authority got an injunction ordering them off its land.

- https://vancouversun.com/news/tent-c...in-the-morning

Originally Posted by MIPS

The next civic election cycle's gonna be a fun one.

Jesus thats a massive camp. I remember it was 200 in the end of June. Whats it going to be like in another month?