Vancouver’s CRAB Park campers ordered to leave again

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — A portion of a busy park in Vancouver will be closed to the public Thursday, under order by the General Manager of the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation.

The southwest section of CRAB Park at Portside will be temporarily closed for ground remediation, the order takes effect Thursday. Fences will be put up, but the city does not say how long the work is expected to take.

About 45 people have been living in CRAB Park in a makeshift housing encampment, which has remained despite many efforts by officials to remove it. The Vancouver Park Board says they are in talks with BC Housing and spaces are available for all campers at indoor locations.

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The general manager has also received permission from the Park Board to seek an injunction through the courts, if the campers refuse to leave by 10 a.m. Sept. 9.

The order comes following several attempts to remove the campers in recent months.

Two months ago, the Vancouver Park Board ordered the campers to leave, to limited success.

Last year, more than 40 people were arrested for refusing to leave the park, after an injunction was granted by the courts in favour of the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, which owns the property.

Many of the campers had moved to CRAB Park after a camp at Oppenheimer Park was cleared out by the province in May 2020. Cleanup at that site took over a year, finally reopening to the public in June of this year.

In February, another homeless encampment was shut down by the Park Board. The Strathcona Park encampment received intense public scrutiny after it was discovered the park “leader” was arrested and charged in connection to a shocking home invasion and assault of a senior at her home in January. Sandy Jack Parisian, 47 – who was wanted Canada-wide for unrelated offences – was arrested near Strathcona Park and was charged with manslaughter in connection to Usha Singh’s death.

Advocates have called previous evictions, including from Oppenheimer, CRAB Park, Strathcona, and Raymur Street, “dehumanizing” and “traumatic.”

– With files from Kathryn Tindale, Mike Lloyd, and Hana Mae Nassar