No end in sight to Vancouver’s CRAB Park tent city – BC | 24CA News
Almost two years after it was established, the encampment at Vancouver’s CRAB Park isn’t going anyplace, though many residents have moved out.
Kevin Strome, who was among the many first to pitch a tent within the Downtown Eastside park, stated he labored with Carnegie Community Centre outreach employees to search out supportive housing final fall.
“I didn’t want to live outside forever,” Strome advised Global News Monday.
“The winter was pretty cold so I was like there’s no way I’m spending another winter here.”
A pair dozen tents stay with the City of Vancouver and Vancouver Park Board persevering with to supply companies to residents, together with energy.
B.C. Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon stated the province supplied $715,000 to the Union of BC Municipalities, and the funding was lately given to the town, which plans to spend it solely on CRAB Park.
Coun. Peter Meiszner with ABC Vancouver stated $660,000 will fund 4 non permanent full-time park rangers whereas the remaining $55,000 can pay for well being and sanitation – together with washroom cleansing, rubbish disposal and Vancouver Police Department assist for cleanup work.
The grant, based on the ABC Vancouver majority council, is for price restoration, or to assist offset cash the town has already spent on CRAB Park.
“We are working to decamp the park but the fact of the matter is we do have to have suitable housing to move people to, and that’s a challenge in Vancouver,” Meiszner stated.
Meiszner’s get together vowed to clear encampments and he stated ABC Vancouver is presently doing every little thing in its energy to return CRAB Park to its unique state.
“I understand people’s frustration but unfortunately this isn’t something that can happen overnight,” he stated.
B.C. Premier David Eby promised final November to behave on encampments, stating they don’t seem to be secure for anybody and he doesn’t assist them.
In May 2022, a person was murdered in CRAB Park, and the encampment was the scene of a stabbing spree final October and a serious tent fireplace in December.
Last month, Global News requested the town of Vancouver how a lot cash it had spent on the CRAB Park encampment since May 2021.
Despite offering the identical info for earlier encampments at Oppenheimer and Strathcona parks, employees stated a freedom of data request would must be filed to get the information.
More than $3.5 million in metropolis companies and prices had been related to the 18-month Oppenheimer Park encampment from October 2018 to June 2020, plus Vancouver Fire and Rescue prices of a minimum of $363,400 for implementing the fireplace chief’s order in 2019.
The estimated city-wide whole prices of the Strathcona Park encampment from June 2020 to Oct. 2021 had been $2.2 million, based on the town.
The UBCM grant, based on the province, is meant as interim assist for folks dwelling in CRAB Park whereas a decampment plan is finalized with native stakeholders and all three ranges of presidency.
“The federal government is not there yet,” Kahlon advised Global News Monday.
“We’re proceeding without them. In the event that they join, that would be a bonus.”
Global News requested the federal Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion whether or not his authorities’s plans for CRAB Park are aligned with the province’s promise of decampment, and the way a lot cash Ottawa has spent to this point on the encampment.
Minister Ahmed Hussen was not obtainable for an interview Monday and his employees didn’t present a written response to our inquiry.
Meiszner stated he hopes the encampment might be cleared by the summer season and everybody might be positioned in sufficient housing.
When requested how humane it’s for folks to be dwelling at CRAB Park, advocate Fiona York pointed to the shortage of obtainable and appropriate housing, and likened the state of affairs to a hurt discount mannequin of assembly folks the place they’re at.
“Unless there is that pressure for decampment or eviction that comes from the state or authorities, I could see the tent city lasting until there is that influx of permanent housing that actually suits people,” York advised Global News.
Meantime, Strome stated he’s two months sober and can quickly be dwelling on the North Shore with two of his three sons.
“I’ve made the necessary moves to move forward with my life,” Strome stated.
“It’s my job as a dad to be there for my kids and to get them back. At least my mom did that for me.”
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
