Abbotsford wins ruling allowing it to dismantle city hall homeless camp

A B.C. Supreme Court ruling said the camp is a public safety concern and impedes other citizens' right to use the civic centre

Published Oct 18, 2024  •  4 minute read

A homeless camp outside Abbotsford city hall has become a public safety concern, a judge has ruled. Photo by Jason Payne /PNG

The City of Abbotsford has won a court ruling that allows the dismantling of a four-month-old homeless camp outside city hall.

An agency representing the unhoused campers, the Matsqui-Abbotsford Impact Society, was seeking an injunction preventing the city from moving the camp, which was set up as a protest site in late June by a group called Drug War Survivors.

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The city said the camp has grown and become increasingly unruly and disruptive since summer, creating a public safety hazard and depriving Abbotsford residents of their use of the public space — which includes not only city hall but the courthouse, a museum, theatre, library and cenotaph where Remembrance Day ceremonies are held each year.

The city issued a trespass notice ordering everyone to vacate by Sept. 23, citing police and bylaw officer reports and complaints from city workers and residents.

The society responded with a request for an interim injunction against enforcing the trespass notice the next day, arguing the displacement would violate the campers’ Charter rights. It said evicting the residents “would increase their exposure to severe risks, including hypothermia, illness, violence, and potentially fatal drug poisonings.”

In a ruling posted online Friday, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Sukstorf refused to issue an injunction. But it ordered the city to work closely with camp residents — some of whom are disabled, Indigenous and vulnerable due to addiction — to ensure they are offered alternative shelter options and supports such as harm reduction and social services.

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Sukstorf accepted the city’s evidence that, while the camp was originally peaceful and aimed at drawing attention to the plight of the unhoused in Abbotsford, it evolved into a source of social disorder and threatened the public’s safety and ability to use the amenities on site.

The city said a minimum of two Abbotsford police officers were at the site to respond to incidents, including assaults, through the summer. In August, officers responding to an assault “were confronted and surrounded by (a new group of campers) who yelled and screamed at the attending officers.

“This new mentality, coupled with red spray paint on the sidewalk reading ‘Pig,’ indicated an anti-police sentiment amongst some of the encampment’s occupants,” the ruling said.

The city issued a trespass notice last month that was the subject of an injunction request by a society representing the campers. Photo by Jason Payne /PNG

The camp had become a source of garbage, clutter and hidden weapons, and permanent structures like metal gazebos and cabinets were put in place, suggesting an intention to stay put long-term. Bylaw officers and city employees reported damage to EV charging stations, used needles and foil for smoking drugs and other detritus of drug use, and camp residents urinating and dumping the contents into a pond, pulling up plants in city gardens, and hanging clothing on railings outside city hall.

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One city employee said they were worried for their safety when they saw an altercation involving a large knife and several people screaming at each other, while another who spotted a small fire and asked that it be put out was confronted by the occupant who threatened to “blow (his) face off with a blowtorch.”

The fire department reported the accumulation of tires and lumber, propane tanks, barbecues, grills and lighters and candles in tents. Others noted open drug use, urination and assaults, including one man with his pants down injecting himself with a needle.

A bylaw officer who attended more than 40 times reported finding garbage, feces, knives, bear spray, baseball bats and a BB gun, while some dogs in the camp “aggressively barked and lunged” at people walking by.

The Matsqui-Abbotsford Impact Society argued evicting the residents of the camp would put them at risk of harm including violence, trauma and toxic drug overdoses. It also said the trespass notice was issued too suddenly for residents to present their case for remaining.

While the judge agreed those issues exist, it said the city has shown a willingness to work with those at the camp to manage the risk, maintain the group’s sense of community and peer support network, and find alternative shelter for the occupants.

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It sided with the city that “the balance of convenience favours eviction and enforcement of its bylaws, as allowing the encampment to remain could lead to escalating public safety issues, further strain on city resources, and the degradation of public property.”

Sukstorf said there is enough evidence that the protesters have on many occasions “obstructed or restricted access to essential services by blocking walkways, creating hazards, and intimidating individuals attempting to access the surrounding buildings.”

That impedes “safe passage for all,” including others with disabilities or mobility challenges and elderly citizens who need access to city hall.

Deciding to move the camp to the civic centre also weighed in favour of the city’s right to dismantle it, the judge ruled, noting its placement at city hall “and near the courthouse not only disrupts the intended use of these civic spaces but also undermines the rule of law and the credibility of the institutions located there.”

In a statement, the city said it welcomed the judgment and vowed to “continue to work closely with B.C. Housing and the province of B.C. on addressing encampments and homelessness in the community.”

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