Hastings tent removal deadline extended, advocate worries police will show up

People living on Vancouver’s East Hastings Street on the Downtown Eastside say they didn’t see any city staff dismantling tents on Wednesday, after the city said last week that they would. Residents and advocates believe police will turn up in the area in the coming week.

On July 25, Vancouver’s fire chief issued an order for the immediate removal of the structures within three days. The deadline was initially extended to Aug. 3, only to be again postponed another week.

Lenora Blue has been on East Hastings for six years. She showed CityNews the tent she’s living in now, which includes bright decorative flowers pinned to the interior.

“A girlfriend of mine gave me those. She bought them for me,” she explained. “They’re not real, but I don’t like the real ones — they die. I like the fake ones because they look real!”

She also has a table and mattress inside her tent, as well as baskets holding her clothes and other items.

“I watch movies on my iPad. I read. I sit here and watch people.”

(CityNews image)

The order issued last Monday by Fire Chief Karen Fry said “should a fire occur in the area in its current condition, it would be catastrophic, putting lives at risk and jeopardizing hundreds of units of much-needed housing.”

Lenora is a fire steward for the block and works to ensure no one is lighting candles, leaving propane tanks lying around, or putting their belongings in front of fire hydrants or doors.

Police and city staff used to clear tents and belongings off East Hastings Street every morning, but that stopped at the beginning of July after years of opposition from advocates.

‘The city wants to destroy this encampment’

Ryan Sudds, an organizer with Stop the Sweeps, is frustrated with what he calls a lack of communication from the city. He says with no city staff showing up Wednesday on what was supposed to be the new “deadline” to leave, the community is left wondering what is going on.

“I would say the city is not communicating a very clear plan,” Sudds said. “It’s changing day by day, which worries me because it’s people’s lives and their homes that are at risk through this process.”

He says people living on the block are trying to keep up with the city’s plans, but they’re not sure what happens next.

“I’m not suggesting they start taking people’s tents with no place to go, but this is a disaster. … Why aren’t we looking at creative solutions that take away the fire risk and the apparent ‘catastrophic’ risk that they keep talking about? So to me, it’s not necessarily solely about fire. The city wants to destroy this encampment,” he argued.

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Last week, the city distributed leaflets and posters with information on clearing tents off the sidewalk.

“They don’t come and talk to you,” Lenora said. “They give us a letter, saying with what’s going to happen and stuff like that. A lot of people are not going to abide by the letter because it’s going to be run by cops. And a lot of them don’t trust cops.”

Sudds expects police to respond alongside city staff next week, “putting pressure on people to take down their homes with no other place to go.”

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The City of Vancouver told CityNews no one was available for an interview. In a statement, it says staff did not take action Wednesday because they’re figuring out a way to store people’s things before taking tents down.

As far as Lenora’s concerned, she’s not going anywhere.

“No matter what you do, you’re still not going to push me off the street. You’re just going to make me stay longer,” she told CityNews.

“They were very rough before, and if they were any rougher — I think I can handle it.”