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 Rights and Freedoms and the BC Human Rights Code.

In prelude to escalation of my crusade against the City of Victoria for its human rights violations against its unhoused residents, I have launched a letter campaign calling upon council members to either honour their legal obligations under human rights law or resign.

Send the following letter to Victoria city council members using New/Mode.

Dear [council member] of the Victoria city council,

I urge you to comply with your legal obligations under human rights law pertaining to the City’s treatment of its unhoused residents, as enshrined under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the British Columbia Human Rights Code.

From day one, your administration has engaged in illegal and unconscionable policies of repression toward this city’s most vulnerable constituents, culminating in the latest amendment to the Parks Regulation Bylaw prohibiting overnight sheltering in all but a few inaccessible parks in the periphery, knowing full well there is neither enough available shelter space nor affordable housing to accommodate them—nor sufficient capacity in those remaining parks for that matter.

Courts have consistently asserted the right of homeless people to sleep and shelter from the elements, striking down bylaws prohibiting sheltering in municipal parks when there is insufficient shelter space available. One landmark precedent, Victoria (City) v. Adams, 2008 BCSC 1363, has been made in this very city. Whittling down the list of parks available for sheltering has also been deemed unconstitutional in Bamberger v. Vancouver (Board of Parks and Recreation), 2022 BCSC 49, after the Vancouver Park Board added CRAB Park to the list of off-limits parks, which was deemed one entry too many. Several more judgements have asserted those rights, such as Abbotsford (City) v. Shantz, 2015 BCSC 1909, The Regional Municipality of Waterloo v. Persons Unknown and to be Ascertained, 2023 ONSC 670, and The Corporation of the City of Kingston v. Doe, 2023 ONSC 6662.

Of course you know all of this. The BC Civil Liberties Association and the Pivot Legal Society sent a letter to the Council on July 30 warning of legal jeopardy under Article 7 of the Charter, as confirmed by these legal precedents. Some of you have stated in official proceedings that the proposed amendment to the Parks Regulation Bylaw would not pass the legal test. Some of you even waived attorney-client privilege by leaking to advocates that the City’s own legal counsel asserted as much during an in camera council meeting.

Furthermore, persons with disabilities are afforded additional protections under Article 15 of the Charter and Section 8 of the BC Human Rights Code, thus entitled to reasonable accommodation should they prove unable to comply with the terms of the Parks Regulation Bylaw. Yet this administration has refused to engage in honest dialogue with disabled unhoused residents asserting their rights on the ground or even addressing the Council in person.

Contempt for the rule of law and the edicts of the judiciary is unbecoming of your office. As a concerned citizen who values human rights, I demand that the City of Victoria rectify the situation immediately by either providing sufficient shelter for the unhoused or lifting the prohibition to shelter in accessible municipal parks, which are the only two legal options available. If you somehow cannot comply with your legal obligations as council member, then your only responsible course of action left is to resign from the Council.

Sincerely,

Martin Girard
martin.girard@victorialiberationfront.org

Send the above letter to Victoria city council members using New/Mode.