Noose Tightens Around Unhoused Campers’ Necks

I've reported recently on the City of Victoria trying to keep the Pandora encampment manageable. More recently it's been tightening the noose around unhoused campers' necks at parks as well.

Planned improvements at both Stadacona Park and Topaz Park have led to unhoused campers being relocated to narrow strips of grass, even as street sweeps intensify on Pandora Avenue, leaving the homeless and observers alike wondering where campers will go next.

Ahead of the construction of a new playground, the City has declared nearly all of the park to be closed for sheltering, with the exception of a tiny strip in the far back, barely as large as a tennis court. I’ve marked it on the featured image above just in case you struggle to find it, and it is indeed as small as it looks on the map.

Of course observers are quick to comment that campers do not and will not stick to the designated area. The measure is as futile as it is dehumanising.

Meanwhile, at Topaz Park campers have been relocated uphill to a fenced area by the skate park, which has the looks of a ghetto. It also seems to be continually monitored by the police; a patrol car showed up while I was there and may only have left because I was conspicuously watching, while another went by the park just ten minutes afterward.

There’s far more orange than green on this map. Remove the areas with trees and there’s almost nowhere left. Once the pickleball court is built, there will be nowhere left at all.

As if it weren’t enough, Topaz campers have been moved to an area off the shade, just as we expect a heat wave. The timing is about as callous as in last November, when the bylaw officers cleared the Pandora Avenue encampment right before a snowstorm.

The new encampment also raises objections with the neighbours, pertaining to its proximity with a skate park used by youngsters, while its location coincides with a projected pickleball court, which means the campers shall be displaced yet again before long.

In other words, these “park improvements” are simply the City’s renoviction strategy to counter encampments: just build an improvement at every strip of grass until there is nowhere left to camp. Brilliant.

But fear not! The City of Victoria, in its luminous magnanimity and foresight, redirects anyone dissatisfied with the current arrangements to other parks, which from Topaz Park are located from 30 (Regatta Point) to 75 minutes (Gonzales Park) on foot, far from community centres, harm reduction resources, and obviously beyond the reach of disabled people with mobility issues.

Recent Posts

Advocates Gather at BC Legislature for Housing Justice

Paradoxically, housing advocates have gathered on the lawn of the Legislature to tell governments that don't listen that they're done…

23 hours ago

FULL DISCLOSURE: Victoria City Council Directory

Fellow activists and advocates, come read the answer to every question about Victoria city council members that you've been too…

3 days ago

Environmental Activists Crash Cabinet Swearing Ceremony at Government House

Two dozen environmental activists staged a demonstration outside Government House in Victoria, as hundreds of guests lined up for the…

5 days ago

DOUBLE FEATURE: Palestine Solidary Rallies at Lockheed Martin’s Esquimalt Office, BC Legislature in Victoria

Been waiting for a Saturday that didn't feel like a routine Palestine protest? Here's two on the same day, including…

7 days ago

Letter Campaign: Uphold the Human Rights of the Unhoused Residents of Victoria

Demand Victoria council members comply with their legal obligations under human rights law, as enshrined under the Canadian Charter of…

2 weeks ago

Victoria Marches for Palestine, Take Fifty-Seven

While morale remains high among regular protesters even after a year of weekly demonstrations against the Israeli regime, the scene…

2 weeks ago

Are you protesting social injustice?

Whether you're denouncing police brutality or government overreach, clamouring for a safe drug supply or affordable housing, defending homeless encampments or fighting off the colonial invader, advocating for the disabled or racial minorities, pursuing either legal or extralegal means of retaliation, you'll find plenty of interest within these pages by a fellow insurrectionist butting heads with a callous society and a corrupt system. Come misbehave with the rest of us!

Subscribe on wordpress.com (click the "Subscribe" button for email notifications)

Recent Posts