The City of Victoria is moving forward with a plan stop the city’s homeless from setting up tents during the daytime.
It comes after an attack on a paramedic providing medical aid to someone in the 900 block of Pandora Avenue last week. In the wake of the attack, first responders will no longer attend the area without a police escort.
The block is home to multiple social services and has become home to scores of tents in recent years.
Stephen Hammond brought a motion to council on Thursday directing the city to develop a plan with a timeline and cost estimates to prevent people from keeping tents and structures up during the day.
“When you get too many people it creates a mob mentality,” Hammond told Global News.
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“We saw it at the courthouse a few years ago, and we saw it here last week.”
City bylaws, informed by a landmark B.C. Supreme Court decision, permit people to shelter overnight in city parks when there is no housing available but still prohibit daytime sheltering.
The city faced a similar situation nearly a decade ago when a homeless encampment formed outside the Victoria courthouse.
Following a series of police incidents, the province was ultimately able to secure an injunction to shut down the encampment when a judge determined the encampment was “unsafe for those living there and for the neighbouring residents and businesses.”
In the current case, Hammond said the city has been unable to enforce the ban on daytime tents due to a lack of staffing and the unanswered question of where those living there would go.
He said his motion aims to have staff work on answers to those two issues.
“We still need to enforce our laws – and that’s what my motion is about, to say, ‘Alright, what does it take?’” he said.
“Because we can’t continue to have the dangers that happened last week continue in our city.”
Meanwhile, the city has announced plans to relocate an outreach centre from the 900 block of Pandora Avenue to a new site at Princess Avenue and Dowler Street.
The Solid Outreach Society has been given $2.1 million in funding to provide services to up to 300 people.
That’s causing anger among some residents.
“We all hit the roof,” said Bill Fisher with People of Princess Avenue.
“There has been zero consultation with the neighbourhood itself.”
The group has launched a petition calling on the province to scrap the move.
Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon said the province is working with the city.
“We agreed that we would come forward with more resources for housing options – and we are looking to council to say to us, ‘Hey, this is where we would like the housing,” he said.
In the meantime, Hammond’s plan will move forward, after passing eight to one at city council on Thursday afternoon.
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