Joyce Murray: CP Rail should cancel evictions of community gardeners in Arbutus corridor

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      Joyce Murray, the Liberal MP for Vancouver Quadra, issued the following open letter:

      July 10, 2014

      Mr. Hunter Harrison
      Chief Executive Officer
      CP Rail
      7550 Ogden Dale Road S.E.
      Calgary, AB  T2C 4X9

      Dear Mr. Harrison,

      I was surprised to learn that Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) has issued eviction notices to community gardeners along the Arbutus Corridor in Vancouver Quadra. I was even more surprised to learn that these evictions are to take effect on July 31, 2014, providing barely one month notice.

      It is my understanding that CP currently does not hold any permits or permissions for development along the corridor. Last month CP representatives advised a public meeting of Arbutus residents that they would be conducting surveying activities along the line and that they have no permission from the City of Vancouver for other activities.

      Vancouver citizens have voluntarily improved some of the track right of way areas, turning unsightly garbage-strewn weed tangles into gardens that provide fresh food and flowers and benefit the community space. Can the CP surveyors not work around these objects?

      The July 31st deadline for clearing the gardens is unreasonable and will waste the work that has been invested in this season's garden production. The corporation's decision to issue notices to remove gardens and sheds, without adequate time to make other arrangements, appears to be a thoughtless one that fails to meet the standards of good corporate citizenship.

      I request that CP Rail show respect for our community by cancelling these evictions and inviting affected community members to work with them to find a satisfactory way forward. This will allow for a better understanding of all the relevant land use interests and issues, and a solution that accommodates both CP's requirements and those of the local communities.

      Sincerely,

      Joyce Murray, MP,
      Vancouver Quadra

      Comments

      27 Comments

      frances

      Jul 10, 2014 at 6:49pm

      Dear Joyce
      Quit sucking up to your crème de la crème and focus on your role in the federal parliament. CP Rail owns the land. Arbutus corridor residents are trespassing on it. End of story

      Mark

      Jul 10, 2014 at 8:58pm

      It's CP's land and they can do as they wish. It's extremely valuable, sure just like all real estate in Vancouver.

      Not supporting corporate sponges

      Jul 10, 2014 at 9:30pm

      Sure, they have the right to the land, but they were given it for a song many years ago. The feds should take it back for the same price, adjusted for the time passed, and give them the boot so that it can be used for citizens/city/transit/development - whatever the people want - instead of just wasting its potential.

      Jordan W

      Jul 10, 2014 at 11:01pm

      I sympathize with the gardeners who've worked to make the rail line such a beautiful place. I really enjoyed walking along the line and seeing the hard work and community spirit that went into it.

      That said, I don't believe there really is anything that can be done. They were built over someone else's property, and while they didn't seem to care for the past 15 years, consider it a privilege -- not a right. It was a bonus extension to your back yard for the past 15 years. CP could have come and tore it up overnight but are good enough of a corporate citizen to give a one-month notice.

      If your neighbours started urban farming in your back yard, do you give them a one-month notice? Really.

      Martin Dunphy

      Jul 10, 2014 at 11:05pm

      They were given permission, just with no promises as to length of tenure. CP could have waited until after harvest this year so months of preparatory work weren't wasted.
      Just sayin'.

      Wally B

      Jul 10, 2014 at 11:57pm

      1. Why didn't they wait until november?
      2. Really, how needed is this surveying? I also heard there would be spraying too. This really smacks of CP not wanting people to get too cozy with the gardens on CP's unused land and want to re-assert some rights to it which seems unnecessary.
      3. I'm also relatively certain whatever surveying they are doing could be done around most if not all of the gardens. Granted I have only surveyed once in my life.

      jo blough

      Jul 11, 2014 at 12:05am

      Why do all the officious twits sitting behind their desks have so much to say about all the rest of us who are just getting on with our lives?

      Kegler

      Jul 11, 2014 at 4:30am

      Hmmm. Thinking back to the good ol' days when that lady stood in front of Vancouver city council and declared the residents living along the Arbutus Corridor as the "Creme de la Creme" of Vancouver society, you have to sit back and laugh now. Why? Because the Creme De La Creme are now common squatters on private property. Reverse the situation a bit. What if a bunch of strangers came along and started planting gardens in the back yards of some of these residents alone the Arbutus Corridor.

      What would the home owners be saying then??? Well, they'd be calling the police accusing people of trespassing and squatting on their private property. Now I get that CP Rail isn't exactly well thought of, and fact is that they should have enforced their property rights right when the illicit "squatting" (through planting of gardens etc) started. Its a straight up power play by the railway. Maybe Hunter's looking to duplicate what he pulled off with the BC Rail deal, a thousand year lease of the Arbutus corridor, but only in reverse this time. Instead of leasing the land for a 1000 years, he wants TO LEASE the land back to the city perhaps, to capitalize on what is largely an abandoned strip of land in the middle of Kerrisdale.

      Will the Creme De la Creme squatters get the city to fork over to CP Rail for their inherent right to keep squatting on the rail property? Or will the city dump it on the residents to negotiate directly with the railway?

      As for Joyce Murray's role in all this... Joyce, its between the city of Vancouver, the residents alongside the Arbutus Corridor, and CP Rail. Moderate for sure if you can, but more likely stay the hell out of it!!!!!

      Evil Eye

      Jul 11, 2014 at 6:21am

      Dear Joyce;

      I want to grow a garden in your back yard, if you have one. I want unlimited tenure as well.

      As well Joyce, why are you standing up for the wealthy in Vancouver and not the poor. These gardens are a pastime, nothing more and by the way, the CPR did not giver permission for the gardens, evidently the city did!

      And for all those anti CPR types, the CPR was given land to build railways and they did, across Canada. Those who are intelligent enough, would understand this and this railway (and land) is owned by the CPR and those building gardens are trespassing.

      By the way Joyce, what have you actually done, sitting as an MP? Have you helped our urban transit problems by modernizing the railway act to allow trams to operate on railway lines, like the USA and Europe?

      Have you passed laws making it easier (cheaper) to turn disused rail lines in urban areas, into transit lines, as done elsewhere? Makes things cheaper for the taxpayer you know?

      Have you done anything, except collect an annual stipend for being a talking mouth? have you actually done anything, except write a "naughty-naughty" letter to the CPR?

      sorry Joyce, you have no cred at all, just another MP, appealing to his/hers base for the upcoming election.

      RUK

      Jul 11, 2014 at 8:18am

      Well, that was a civil gesture which does you no harm politically by sending in a copy to the Straight.

      I have to admit that after all of the fuss that Arbutus residents made over the possibility of transit buses using the rail lines they would rather we forgot were there, that it is very satisfactory to see that CP has not forgotten them. Perhaps you should have pushed harder for transit usage rather than, say, heavy rail clanking past at three in the morning. Ha. That's egg on your face - no, creme.