Victoria tenters at centre of neighbourhood petition citing drugs, crime

Photo: Darren Stone, Times Colonistt

Tents in Stadacona Park, where 24-hour camping has continued beyond the May 1 deadline.

A narrow sliver of Victoria's Fernwood parkland is ground zero in a simmering dispute between tenters and the park’s neighbours.

About 1,000 people have signed a petition to end camping in Stadacona Park in Victoria, citing negative impacts both on campers and the area’s housed residents.

The petition says that “for the past three summers, Stadacona Park has experienced large, shifting encampments of unhoused individuals.”

One of those individuals is 60-year-old Cliff, who said he’s been sleeping in the park for four months.

“I see a lot of kids come in here, I see a lot of people come in here from all over the neighbourhood,” he said. “There’s people here who don’t use drugs … most of the people in here, if there’s a kid around they won’t use in front of them. They have respect.”

Cliff said his name has been on a provincial list for housing for more than five years.

“I’m still waiting,” he said.

Sandwiched between Pandora Avenue and Begbie Street, Stadacona Park is close to condominium buildings, rental apartments and single-family homes. The City of Victoria allowed full-day camping during the provincial government’s COVID-19 state of emergency, but that directive expired May 1, bringing back into effect a bylaw that allows tents in public parks only from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.

But 24-hour camping has continued, and residents’ grievances go beyond the tents. They list drug overdoses, violent crimes, death, as well as intimidation of local residents, public urination, scattered drug paraphernalia, shouting of obscenities and loud music.

Michael Barr, a member of the ­neighbourhood group that launched the petition, said residents have reached a breaking point.

“Camping in parks lacks safety and dignity for campers, and lacks safety and respect for the community,” he said. “We’ve just reached a point where we are saying, ‘no more.’ ”

Barr said the neighbours are not against solutions for homelessness, but don’t think parks should be used as homes in the meantime. He suggested campers be moved to other city-owned land.

“We support solutions to house the homeless, but what we are saying is, parks are not part of that solution,” he said. “Moving campers around to another park does not solve the problem obviously … there are other municipal lands, or they could arrange to lease lands where camping and sheltering could occur.

“That allows parks to be free, to be back in the public domain.”

But not every neighbour feels as strongly about the campers.

On Friday around noon, Janette Hennigar, 85, walked her 12-year-old border collie Rory though the park, passing several tents near the park’s tennis courts, where a laughter-filled match was underway.

“You know when you shouldn’t approach [people]. You have to be sensible,” she said. “But I’ve met lots of lovely people, who, through no fault of their own, are stuck here.”

Hennigar, a former nurse, said she’s been coming to the park every other day for over a decade with Rory. She hasn’t encountered the violence or crime mentioned in the petition, but she said she does see a lot of people who need help.

“I’ve met a lot of people who are working and just haven’t got the money to pay the rent,” she said. “By the grace of God, we are not doing too bad, but if rents keep going up, everybody is going to be in the park.”

The province has been clear that encampments are not a safe or suitable form of housing.

In an email, the Attorney General’s Ministry, responsible for housing, said its most recent data indicates that approximately 10 people are camping at Stadacona Park, though the count fluctuates regularly.

“We know there’s an urgent need for more housing for people experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness in Victoria,” the ministry said, noting that since 2018, B.C. Housing has opened 389 supportive housing units in the city and 390 spaces are currently under construction or in development.

“It is our priority to help people seeking shelter in encampments connect to the supports they need.”