The Victoria ruling and its impacts
“I’m sleeping in a tent-city tonight,” David Johnson declared in an email from Victoria. Earlier that week, a BC supreme court ruling struck down Victoria bylaws making it illegal for homeless people to set up “temporary abodes” in city parks and other public spaces.
Within days, the City of Victoria responded with a new bylaw limiting the hours during which tents could be set up and police enforced the new bylaw by rousting campers at 7 a.m.
A public meeting is planned for 4:00 p.m. on Thursday October 30th in Victoria to address the legalities of the situation.
We take a look at the struggle surrounding homelessness in Victoria—and the impact of the recent supreme court ruling.
We speak with Catherine Boies Parker, a lawyer involved in the supreme court case, David Arthur Johnson, an advocate for the homeless and a key participant in the legal case, and Chris Aung-Thwin, national coordinator of the Homeless Nation online community.
