Oppenheimer decampments raise questions from activists
Posted January 19, 2024 3:49 pm.
Questions are being raised by activists about ongoing decampment efforts at Oppenheimer Park.
Vancouver Park Rangers and police were back at the park on Friday, removing at least one tent, according to StopTheSweeps.
Kaylee — who volunteers as a legal observer with the group — tells CityNews she and others with the organization have been trying to be at Oppenheimer during the forced evictions every day.
She says rangers have been enforcing bylaws in a seemingly arbitrary manner.
“[The tent] was collapsed just like they say it has to be at 10 a.m., but they took it anyway,” Kaylee explained.
“The city should not be able to throw out belongings that they haven’t made any effort to find the owners of. To just assume that the owner won’t be able to repair or fix or clean the tents after coming back to it is just ridiculous.”
The organization says rangers claimed the tent was soiled and contained drug paraphernalia.
The City of Vancouver previously told CityNews that items are only discarded if they are deemed soiled or drug-related.
However, what exactly “soiled” means isn’t clear, Kaylee says.
“It seems to change by the day and we have absolutely no recourse because when they deem [an item] soiled, we can’t exactly put it into small claims court because there’s just no resources for that. So people lose their stuff … and it’s just humiliating to stand there and argue with rangers and beg them to give you your things back.”
Kaylee says campers are often told to call 311 to get their belongings back, though she claims people have had very little success doing so, saying in many cases, rangers throw out items they’ve taken.
“It’s obviously horrendous to come back to where you’ve been sheltering to find all of your stuff gone. But I would also say that the process that rangers keep on telling us to follow is to call 311 to get stuff back and we have had so little success with that that it’s not even worth following up at this point,” she said.
“In one particular instance … they ended up taking a tent that had someone’s immigration papers and family photos as well. Luckily, the resident did get that back but that would have been devastating to lose,” she said. “Other times, they lose essentials like ID and documents and sentimental things that they’ve managed to hold onto.”
Organizations like StopTheSweeps and some politicians, including BC Green Leader Sonia Furstenau, have called for a moratorium on sweeps and decampments during the cold winter months.
However, that has not happened.
“I think the bylaw that they are operating under is extraordinarily nitpicky about where people can set up in the park. So even though Oppenheimer Park is known to be a place where people tent overnight, rangers are extremely inconsistent about enforcing different parts of the bylaw,” Kaylee claimed.
“It’s completely up to whatever ranger is on site that day about which parts they’re enforcing. So it’s incredibly hard to know what they’re going to do on any given day, just depending on what part of the bylaw they choose to say they’re enforcing.”
The latest decampments come as winter storms have rolled through the region. At some times, temperatures dipped to the negative double digits.
Previously, the City of Vancouver said in a statement that it was in ongoing collaboration with the province to establish long-term housing solutions.
“The City of Vancouver continues to work in partnership with the Government of British Columbia, including BC Housing, to respond to homelessness by building longer-term supportive and social housing, and activating emergency shelter spaces, as well as by advocating for adequate income, health, and housing support in communities across the region,” the statement reads.
Vancouver police told CityNews officers responded to the park at the request of the Vancouver Park Board.
