Homeless in Abbotsford win case against city

» BC Supreme Court rules that homeless may set up temporary shelter in parks

Mercedes Deutscher
News Editor
& news@theotherpress.ca

ednesday marked a

landmark victory for
the homeless, particularly
those fighting for a place to
set up temporary shelter.

The BC/Yukon Association
of Drug War Survivors sued the
City of Abbotsford after city
workers used chicken manure
to disperse a homeless camp.
Another Abbotsford homeless
camp was dispersed after
police pepper-sprayed residents
and destroyed their tents.

“We are deeply apologetic
for any hurt this may have
caused. I personally feel
incredibly bad,” said then-
Abbotsford mayor Bruce
Banman to CBC regarding
the manure incident.

After being heard before
the BC Supreme Court, Chief
Justice Christopher Hinkson
decided that Abbotsford’s
bylaw—which prohibits
homeless people from camping
in parks overnight—violated
Section 7 of the Charter of
Rights and Freedoms.

The court wrote an 81-page
judgment. Although the ruling
will allow for the homeless
to set up tents in parks, some
limits were put into place.

“A minimally impairing
response to balancing that

: need with the interests of other :
: users of developed parks would
: be to allow overnight shelters

: to be erected in public spaces

: between 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 :
: a.m. the following day,” read the :
: judgment. The language in the
: ruling will prohibit long-term
: camps from being assembled.

Hinkson criticized the

: actions taken by the City of
: Abbotsford, calling them

: “disgraceful and worthy of
: the court’s disapproval.”

It remains yet to be seen if

: the city willagree withthe BC:
: Supreme Court ruling, or if they :
: will decide to take the decision !
: to the BC Court of Appeal.

Henry Braun, Mayor of

: Abbotsford, believes that

: the homeless in the city are

: camping in the parks despite
: having other shelter options.

“Some of them, they just

: want to be left alone: ‘Leave
: me alone, I want to camp.’

: And they use that term:

: ‘camping.” said Braun to

: the Globe and Mail. “I’m not
: sure what to do with that.”

The lawsuit parallels

: another case that took place
: in Victoria in 2009. The BC

: Court of Appeal made the

: decision then that homeless
: would be allowed to use

: tents as shelter to sleep in

: public parks overnight.

Although some hope that

the Abbotsford decision will
: influence other municipalities

: to change their bylaws to

: accommodate overnight tent

: shelters in parks, others are

: skeptical. Margot Young, a law
: professor at UBC, is surprised

: that more municipalities

: didn’t learn from the 2009

: Victoria case. While the

: decision helped in some ways,

: it continued to create problems

a

: for the homeless community,
: who are still constantly
: subject to police raids.

Meanwhile, members of

: the Drug War Survivors say

: the ruling is only a quick fix

: toa larger problem, as having
: aspace for a tent city would

: allow for more provisions,

: such as garbage cans and

 

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: washrooms, to create a better
: environment for the homeless.

“Being alone is the worst

thing in the world,” said Harvey
: Clause, a homeless resident in

: Abbotsford, to the Vancouver

: Sun. “Sometimes, that’s why it’s
: important to have a tent city,

: to be a community again.”

 

Fighting for citizenship

» 99-year-old woman a Canadian at last

Aaron Guillen
Staff Reoorter

ven though she has spent the

majority of her life in Canada
since 1933, Joan Stirling, 99, was
denied a Canadian Citizenship,
because she couldn't provide
her birth certificate. Having
worked, paid taxes, and voted
in multiple elections, but never
having married, gotten a driver's
licence, passport, or surprisingly
a health card, her situation was
only brought to light recently.
Stirling’s friend, Diana Watson,
had tried her best to get the
fellow senior citizenship so she
could access reasonable health

care, but was met with a struggle.

Seeking a solution, Watson
sent over 20 documents to
Citizenship and Immigrations
Canada (CIC) that pinpointed
Stirling’s trek from the UK to a
long settlement in Toronto.

“It does seem ridiculous. It’s
just total bureaucracy. I sent this
huge file off... and I simply got a
one-page letter back saying we

: need a birth certificate and that
: was it and everything came to
> standstill,” Watson told CBC.

Having arrived in Canada

: in 1933, crossing the border

: presented a different situation

: then. “Nobody ever asked me at

: the border why we were crossing
: or how long we were going to stay :
: or anything,” Sterling explained
: to CBC.

In a new era where ID is

: the currency of life, Stirling was

: looking for a miracle. Within the
: last couple of years, Watson has

: additionally helped her friend out
by applying for multiple health

: cards under Ontario’s Ministry

: of Health, even going as far as

: reaching out to a program for the
: homeless (although Stirling has

: never been homeless). The only

: thing that was keeping Stirling

: afloat was her finances.

After her most recent

: health card expired at the end of
: September, Watson reached out

: to CBC News's investigative news
: segment Go Public. Go Public

: conversed with Don Chapman,

: the founder of Lost Canadians,

: an organization to assist

: those who have never received

: Canadian citizenship, and asked
: for help. Chapman is convicted

: that a new Citizenship Act is

: necessary.

“CIC is clueless when it
comes to their own rules. The

: only consistency with CIC

: is they're inconsistent. I can

: catch them [making] different

: statements on different days with
: different people. They just don’t

: know their own laws,” Chapman

: told CBC.

Eventually, Chapman’s

: convictions were proven true

: when he revealed that Stirling

: had been a Canadian citizen

: all along, due to a law that
guaranteed automatic citizenship
: for British immigrants living in

: Canada before 1947. All is well, as
: Stirling will soon receive a citizen
: certificate and permanent health
: card,

“I feel like every other

Canadian,” Stirling said.

 

 

 

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