Millennium Park packing up

The City’s assertion is that the camp is unsafe, with emergency personnel unable to access the site if needed.

But Phillip Fredrickson says there was already a move afoot to decamp.

“It was mentioned that there was no access for emergency vehicles to go in,” says Fredriksson. “However, it was immediately cleaned up by the residents that are in the encampment and space was made for emergency vehicles to come in, but they had already told us they were going to decamp.”

But the fire department issued notice that as of 4:25 Thursday afternoon, they would be at the camp to remove fire hazards. But there are those who, admittedly, will not want to leave this camp. And what happens in that case is worrisome to Fredriksson.

“I keep hearing different things about what’s going to happen. So I’ve heard that bylaw and police are going to come in on Monday. I’ve heard that tomorrow by law and police are coming in. I haven’t gotten a definite answer from anybody. But my concern is if people do decide to stay, the forceful removal will cause a lot of drama.”

Millennium Park is not beholden to the court order covering Moccasin flats, it becomes an interesting dynamic for the City.

“And for the City to demonstrate to the court that we have enough sufficient housing matches the number of people on the street,” says Mayor Yu. “We need to have proper data. And so B.C. Housing and together with our City team, they’re working very closely together to make sure that these two numbers so we can go to the court and say, look, you know, we have sufficient housing for everybody.”

In the meantime, through the course of the day, individuals at Millennium Park have packed up their possessions to move to their new home, wherever that may be.

by Cheryl Jahn

Millennium Park packing up

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