Today I stopped by a tent city at 950 Main Street after the hubbub had died down from a morning news conference.

I was curious to see the camp near Thornton Park devoid of media and housing activists.

The residents invited me in and I walked to the back to speak to the cook, a woman named Joyce. She and the others weren't much interested in being interviewed, so I left them alone to live their lives.

But I must say I was impressed by the general cleanliness of the area and how residents appeared to enjoy one another's company.

This camp was set up on April 28 to coincide with the provincial-election campaign. The Alliance Against Displacement has been in contact with the tent dwellers and played a key role at today's news conference.

The alliance's Maria Wallstam introduced one of the residents, Crystal Cardinal, to the media. She offered a few remarks about why a tent city is preferable to single-room-occupancy hotels like the Balmoral.

"We have a tight-knit community here, everybody gets along, everyone watches out for everybody, and it's safe," Cardinal told the reporters.

She added if they're kicked out, they're going to have to keep moving around. And Cardinal has previously told the media that she's been on a B.C. Housing waiting list for two years after being evicted from the Cobalt Hotel.

Wallstam pointed out that the Lu'ma Native Housing Society has issued a notice of trespass against the tent city dwellers.

The letter states that "all structures, tents, shelters, objects and things must be removed from the Property by no later than 7:00 a.m. on Friday, June 16, 2017".

This came after society filed a development permit application to build 26 units of affordable housing.

The city leased the site to the society effective June 15.

According to the city, "the continuation of the encampment at 950 Main Street is threatening the future of a vital affordable housing project which will serve aboriginal adults who are homeless or at-risk of homelessness which has been planned for that site".

Wallstam told reporters that the society's next step would be to obtain a court injunction. And that could lead to the residents being charged under the Trespass Act.

"This tent city is providing what the government is not," Wallstam said. "It's providing shelter, stability and security."

Herb Varley highlights ongoing colonialism

One of the more memorable speeches at today's event came from indigenous housing activist Herb Varley. 

He pointed out that First Nations in the region have not ceded the territory upon which the tent-city residents are living.

Varley even considers himself a guest on the land because his heritage is not Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh, or Musqueam.

"Even though I born and raised in what we now call Vancouver city—even though I plan on living out the remainder of my life, however long that may be, in Vancouver city—it is important for me to say I am a guest in this territory," Varley declared.

Then he held his hands up in the traditional indigenous form of respect for the tent city people who've banded together to help themselves.

Varley pointed out that the site was vacant for upward of 20 years before the native housing society signed a lease agreement with the city.

He claimed that this was a way for the city to avoid responsibility by turning the issue over to a third party so it could "take the heat".

Varley alleged that this was designed to construct a narrative that the city is trying to build social housing, which he insisted is "false".

It's worth noting that several residents of the tent city are indigenous 

Varley also pointed out that city councillors acknowledge that Vancouver is on unceded indigenous territory before their public meetings. Yet he said that the same politicians are relying on legal apparatuses from this illegal occupation to "colonize" the site that's become home to residents of the tent city.

"As Canada celebrates its 150th birthday, it's really celebrating genocide, displacement, and the cultural diminishment—the cultural repression—of indigenous peoples that continues today," Varley added.

He noted that as the country and the city commemorate Canada's 150th birthday this year, the Coast Salish have been in this region for at least 10,000 years.

"As Canada ramps up its celebrations, there is going to be a national narrative of yes, Canada used to be colonial, it used to be racist, it used to be classist," he continued. "But if you look right here—if you look at who they're displacing yet again, if you look at who is filling up the prison systems, if you look at who is filling up the foster-care system, if you look at who is dying in the opioid crisis—it disproportionately affects indigenous people."

According to Varley, colonization is not something that ended 150 years ago—it's something that happens to this very day, this very moment, this very second.

"I'm here to challenge that national narrative that Canada, Vancouver, has progressed past its racist history," he said. "I think one of the most dangerous myths in Canada is this myth of progress. Infinite, unrestricted, benevolent progress. You know, when we asked for housing, when we asked for 100 percent social housing on sites like this, we're told to be realistic. We're told to be realistic. But then if I was to ask 100 developers—1,000 developers—what they want, every single one of them will say I want unlimited, unmitigated, unrestricted, infinite potential for growth.

"That's not possible for one person, never mind 1,000," Varley added. "So like I said, there is a politics to what's realistic."