Deadline for CRAB Park residents arrives as city’s clean-up looms

The deadline for CRAB Park residents to move out arrived Sunday night, with city workers slated to begin their cleanup and repairs of the area Monday.

As of Sunday afternoon, however, most of the tents, personal belongings, and structures in the park — the only legal outdoor space in Vancouver where tents can remain 24/7 — were still up.

CityNews spoke to a few residents who explained they weren’t in a rush to leave.

CRAB Park resident David Bradbury, who cooks for everyone who lives in the park, said he has a lot of equipment to move and doesn’t plan to move his kitchen until Monday morning.

“Three fridges, a big grill, three stainless steel countertops, and a couple of storage bins, and we should be good to go,” he said.

The City of Vancouver believes the clean-up is needed because of numerous safety concerns with combustible materials and unsafe structures. It said people who do leave on their own will be allowed to move back once the cleanup is done in early April.

The residents have a designated space to move their belongings — a fenced-off hill next to the existing camp — while the city cleans and repairs the area, but it is causing tension for the residents.

“It’s not suitable,” Bradbury said. “And they put the fencing around a pen like we’re cattle. It’s ridiculous and they should be ashamed of themselves.”

Melina, a volunteer with “Stop the Sweeps,” an advocacy group for displaced people, explained some residents are worried about the temporary space, adding it’s not ideal for an outdoor shelter.

“Realistically, the space they designate is not the same amount of room, so the idea that people are able to move all their stuff from there, it’s just not realistic,” Melina said.

“The hill is on an angle, it’s going to be muddy. It’s a much more challenging place to live, and considering the rain is coming, it’s going to be a real nightmare.”

Melina noted Monday’s clean-up has caused a lot of anxiety for the residents here.

“I know a lot of people have been in these camps and have seen this happen, where state actors have come in and removed people and separated people, then we have scattered people across the city,” Melina said. “And vulnerable people need community.”

Bradbury, who lost his wife a couple of years ago, shared he has become quite attached to some of his neighbours in the park.

“We’re on the same boat,” he said. “We’ve had some losses in life and trying to recover from them and it’s become quite a pretty nice little community.”

He has a message for anyone who doesn’t believe how close living in a park could be to their reality:

“Humanity lives here.”