The City of Vancouver and its Park Board have once again mobilized against the houseless residents of this city.

Anyone living in Vancouver has felt the ever tightening pressure of the rising cost of living. Those most vulnerable to this pressure, a group that is disproportionately Indigenous, are being perpetually squeezed out of reliable housing and becoming more visible, much to the chagrin of Vancouver’s wealthy and powerful. Tent cities and encampments have long played a vital role in meeting the needs of those most affected. CRAB Park encampments specifically have allowed residents to build community, be in proximity to the services offered on the Downtown Eastside, work towards having their basic needs met, and have a level of autonomy and consistency not provided in scarce and inaccessible shelter spaces. Despite the harm-reducing benefits offered by these communities, there have been numerous attempts to push the residents out of the public eye and into more dangerous and precarious living conditions. 

The “clean up” of CRAB Park, which has been ongoing since March 18, is a shameful addition to the City’s legacy of forcing its most marginalized residents to bear the brunt of a harmfully insufficient social service system.

The City’s last attempt to evict the residents of CRAB Park first occurred in 2021, when the general manager of parks posted an eviction notice for those sheltering at CRAB. In addition to bearing the weight of constant persecution, two residents fought to bring this case to the supreme court of BC. The judge determined that there was a lack of evidence showing the encampment posed any serious risk of harm to the health and safety of the public and that closing CRAB Park to sheltering when there was insufficient shelter space available was a violation of the residents’ constitutional rights. 

Fundamentally, though, nothing has changed since this decision was made; suitable shelter space in the city ranges from inadequate to non-existent, and the CRAB Park encampment continues to provide life-saving services to those who reside there. Despite this, the City’s new optics-oriented approach has been to conduct a “clean up” that forces the displacement of the residents. This approach has already resulted in the loss of precious and life-saving possessions, and is almost certain to increase harm to and mortality of the residents as the stress of displacement compounds with the realities of the deadly toxic drug crisis—which was declared a public health emergency in 2016. 

Over the course of the first week of the 2024 displacement process, the park was plagued with heavy police and ranger presence. Residents were told they would need to abandon the shelters they had painstakingly assembled and give up any possessions that wouldn’t fit in the two garbage bins provided. They were then required to move into tiny two-person tents fenced off into pens on the adjacent hill, which was already showing signs of the mud that would soon make conditions there even more unlivable. Little help was offered to residents in actually relocating, and officials refused to acknowledge or accept the offered copies of the statement from the First Nations Leadership Council condemning their actions.

Early in the morning of March 25, fences were erected to enclose the camp—with residents still inside—and media and legal observers were told any attempted entrance would be considered a criminal offense. Residents outside the enclosure begged rangers and police for access simply to retrieve their tents and precious belongings to no avail. Cree Elder Reta Blind sat outside the fence for over an hour asking to be allowed entry to share medicine with a resident in crisis. Haida Nation Hereditary Chief Robert Williams drummed and shared stories of oppression and violence inflicted upon him and his kin by the Vancouver Police Department. After hours of waiting, being forced to watch the tents they were waiting to retrieve be destroyed, residents were allowed entry one by one, and Elder Reta was permitted to share her medicine.

It has been over a week since the residents were removed from their homes, and the date they were told they would be able to return has come and gone. Communication from officials has been inconsistent and contradictory, but what is clear is their intention that the CRAB Park community as it previously stood will no longer exist. A new set of draconian bylaws around sheltering in parks is being presented the week of April 8 and will likely become law.

When faced with great suffering, it can be tempting to villainize those less familiar to you—but I implore readers to consider who this is helping. Humanity, dignity, and fundamental services are not rights to be bestowed or taken away. Encampments will exist as long as safe and dignified housing is not available to all residents. The massive expenditure of public funds on policing those suffering the most will never end until resources are allocated to providing services that actually keep people safe.