Cross-party coalition of Vancouver city councillors urges city to clear Oppenheimer Park

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — An unlikely coalition of city councillors is bringing a motion forward that they hope will put an end to the “impasse” over the fate of the tent city at Oppenheimer Park.

Coun. Sarah-Kirby Yung is one of four councillors–along with Lisa Dominato, Michael Wiebe and Pete Fry– who drafted what she describes as a collaborative, cross-partisan motion to move forward with clearing the park of campers.

“This is one of those situations where you’ve got a serious issue facing your city, and it’s not about politics. It’s about people,” Kirby-Yung says. “We do think the park needs to be decamped. It’s not a tenable and sustainable solution to have people still camping out. The weather’s getting colder. We’re seeing a lot of violence and associated safety issues in the area.”

Earlier this month the Park Board voted against a motion to seek a court-order that would compel campers to leave. Vancouver is the only city in British Columbia with an elected park board, so any move to take over Oppenheimer Park would have to be approved by both the board itself and by city council. Mayor Kennedy Stewart has asked the board to cede jurisdiction to the city.

This is the situation Kirby-Yung and her fellow councillors describe as an impasse.

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“We’re seeing such a deterioration of safety and related issues in the Downtown Eastside,” says Kirby-Yung. “We wanted to try to bridge the impasse that has developed.”

Kirby-Yung points out the Vancouver police have blamed the tent city at the park for drawing more crime and gang violence to the Downtown Eastside –which recorded three shootings over a 15 hour period on Sunday and Monday.

The first part of the motion proposes that council and the park board move forward with an “urgent, collaborative decampment plan,” adding the plan will include finding shelter for the remaining campers.

This, says Kirby-Yung, is the short term objective.

The rest of the motion details a number of proposals for “putting in place measures to help our most vulnerable citizens, which includes access to shelter and permanent housing, basic services and supported employment opportunities, as well as wraparound services like basic health care, mental health and addiction treatment options.”

Kirby-Yung says she understands the motion’s long-term solutions–such as funding for a permanent shelter, mental health and addiction services, and affordable housing units–are outside of the city’s jurisdiction.

“We do need the support of the province,” she explains. “I think the province is waiting for a signal that Vancouver can work well together.”

The preamble to the motion points out that this is not the first time the city has been confronted with a camp in the park.

In 2014, about 200 tents housed people experiencing homelessness in the park. Later that year, they were all forced out by court injunction and the City of Vancouver leased a hotel to house those who were displaced.

With files from Marcella Bernardo