‘This is our livelihood’: Vancouver CRAB park residents share concerns ahead of clean-up
Posted March 21, 2024 7:22 am.
Last Updated March 21, 2024 8:32 am.
As the countdown to their temporary eviction intensifies, people sheltering at Vancouver’s sole 24/7 legal encampment are voicing their frustrations about the park board-led clean-up plan.
“Some of us have been here a little while, and it’s become our home,” one park resident told CityNews.
“They’re asking us to leave it behind to move into a smaller place, and an unfamiliar place.”
Earlier this week, the city fenced off the temporary area within the park where residents will be required to move no later than Sunday night. Structures built and inhabited by residents within the original area will be dismantled thereafter.
If people refuse to leave the area or their homes they will be “escorted” out by police, according to the Vancouver Park Board.
“It’s a petting zoo, … we [are] here on display for everybody?” another resident remarked about the fenced-off area.
“This is our livelihood,” he added.
In numerous statements to CityNews, Vancouver’s park board has maintained that this planned clean-up is not a “decampment” and that crews are approaching it in a “compassionate” way—something residents find hard to believe.
“I don’t feel very good about it, I feel unsure. It definitely does feel like [a decampment].
“For them to say they came down here with compassion, no they didn’t, they came down here with force.”
However, the park board says the impact on the roughly 20 people sheltering in CRAB Park remains a “primary concern.”
Housing is another pressing issue being raised by residents. Last month, the park board said that “both the province and city would be present during the clean-up process to coordinate housing alternatives for individuals seeking to relocate from the park setting.”
However, the current status regarding the number of individuals provided with indoor shelter is unclear.
In a statement to CityNews, BC Housing was unable to specify the available space in the city or the precise number of individuals offered it.
“Based on feedback from city outreach workers visiting CRAB park and potential availability of units, BC Housing anticipates that partners will be able to offer opportunities to come inside – either shelter or housing – to most people currently sheltering in CRAB Park who are willing to engage with outreach during the city’s planned clean-up process,” the statement read.
