Sunday, September 10, 2023

 

Prince George encampment resident predicts violence will stem from forced move

Local authorities closing down Millennium Park encampment on Saturday
Ted Clarke
James Munro is worried the city's decision to close the Millennium Park encampment this weekend will hurt the city's homeless population.

The eviction notices have been handed out and James Munro knows he will be forced out of his temporary home at Millennium Park encampment in downtown Prince George.

Known as J-Rock, Munro has been living with his fiancĂ©e under a tarp in close proximity to about 30 other residents of the camp at First Avenue and George Street.  

The Millennium Park campers have been loading their belongings into transport trailers donated by a private citizen for relocation to Moccasin Flats, a 52-site encampment along Lower Patricia Boulevard that’s been used by the city’s homeless population for the past two years.

The park is across the street from a gas station/convenience store and a shelter where they can get food, water and showers, while Moccasin Flats has few amenities. The city has yet to announce any infrastructural improvements to deal with more campers.

“There’s no water, there’s no electricity, there’s no anything, now we’ll have to go a mile-and a-half to get water,” Munro said. ”They brought in port-a-potties for us located at strategic places for them but that isn’t strategic for us at all.

“It’s a mile-and-half walk to get to the store and that will take half an hour to walk there and back. Now if we want power we’ll have to buy generators at $3,000 apiece. How do a lot of people afford that?”

The campers have been told they must take their belongings with them or risk losing them. He said none of the authorities have come up with any alternative housing solutions.

“They haven’t done anything,” Munro said. “Let’s face it, where are they building new homes in P.G. that are going to be affordable for homeless people? That’s why we’re here.”

Millennium Park is highly visible to highway travellers coming into the city on Highway 16 East and Munro says some motorists have shown their contempt for camp residents by throwing things at them as they pass by.

“They throw eggs and they bounce golf balls in here,” he said “Do you know what a golf ball does at 60 kilometres an hour? One girl was hit with a frozen slush (drink) that smashed into her face and broke her nose.”

Munro, 46, has terminal cancer and has been addicted to heroin for 15 years. He came to Millennium Park five months ago from Quesnel and says the campers have formed a tight-knit community. They look out for each other and police themselves and try to weed out the bad characters. They also clamp down on people for lighting large campfires or using drugs in plain sight of the public and he said they evicted some residents when they set up a chop shop for stolen bikes in one of the tents.

A fire in November 2022 got out of hand and spread to three tents before fire crews arrived to douse the flames. Munro says he’s seen the fire department attend the camp at least 30 times to douse small campfires in the time he’s lived there.

Citing the fire danger of flammable material and liquid/compressed gas storage present at the site, fire chief Cliff Warner issued an order that took effect Wednesday afternoon for the Millennium camp to be taken down due to the fire hazard and risk of an explosion. An order issued earlier this week by the city requires the camp to be evacuated by Saturday. Munro says the eviction is not justified and blames the fire chief and Mayor Simon Yu for overstating the danger to residents.

Munro worries that campers bound for Moccasin Flats will be no longer be in close proximity to an experienced first aid attendant stocked with Narcan to prevent drug overdose deaths when they move. He said there have been two overdose deaths at Moccasin Flats since April and a woman suffered a gunshot wound there last winter. Munro predicts more violence is likely when the Millennium Park residents move in.

“There’s a lot of little underground societies that don’t get along with each other and once you put them in one area it’s going to be more of problem for these individuals to get along, that’s why people live here and people live out there, because they don’t get along with each other,” he said.

“They think cleaning this park up is going to help, but another will spring up somewhere else.”


 

Volunteers frustrated with lack of help for Millennium Park decampment

Helping residents move out of Millennium Park has been left to a handful of volunteers

Hanna Petersen
about 17 hours ago



City Coun. Trudy Klassen helps occupants move belongings at Millennium Park. 
Hanna Petersen

Those left at the Millennium Park encampment on Saturday spent the day dismantling tents and moving their belonging with the help of a few volunteers.

The city had given a Sept. 9 eviction deadline to those residing at Millennium Park and said that any material remaining will be removed and permanently disposed.

Philip Fredrickson, a volunteer with UNDU (Uniting Northern Drug Users Undoing Stigma), had spent the previous three days helping people pack up and move.

The city had signed a Memorandum of Understanding, called Heart to Hearth, with the province regarding supports for the unhoused in Prince George in June, and Fredrickson said he was a part of the Heart to Hearth team.


He said he did not find out the city had planned to decamp Millennium Park until it was mentioned at a meeting he attended on Aug. 31 the same day it was publicly announced.

“Immediately everyone at the table just really realized we have work to do,” he said. “This last week, we've been trying to put together teams to come down and help but you know, back to school, back to work, everybody's really busy and we've had to have just random volunteers come down and help.”

Fredrickson said he was disappointed there was not better coordination from the city and helping residents at Millennium Park has been left up to volunteers.

He said Coun. Trudy Klassen has been the only person from the city on site helping the residents move their belongings.

The residents of the Millennium Park encampment were also served with a second eviction notice on Wednesday in Sept. 6 in the form of an evacuation order signed by Prince George fire chief Cliff Warner.

Fredrickson said the biggest challenge facing the occupants has been the stress and anxiety and confusion of the last-minute notification to evacuate.

“It’s the confusion, the misrepresentation, the lack of coordination with any kind of city workers or city officials…I mean the fact that we have a city councillor down here, helping move things, but not knowing what the actual plan was kind of speaks for itself,” said Fredrickson.

“It would have been nice to have a little interaction with some of maybe city bylaw or city outreach, or something like that but I haven't seen any of them down here in the last week at all.”

He said the second evacuation order had thrown a wrench into their work because the stress and anxiety has caused residents in active addiction to up their use because they’re self-medicating.

“The last couple days, we've been moving all of their stuff without their help, because they're just not functioning. So, it's created more of a problem for the volunteers and people helping them,” he said.

“I'm just a little frustrated with the fact that we haven't had any support from city or by law or outreach. The organizations that are in the area haven't been able to assist because their contracts and policies prevent them from coming on any encampment site. So it's been really difficult.”

He said there’s been between five and 12 volunteers helping residents move over the last week.

“I feel that we need to take responsibility for the decisions we make and the decision that we made at council has a profound impact on the people that have been making this their home the last few years, and I felt I needed to be here to help out,” said Coun. Klassen.

She said she also wanted to meet the residents and learn more about their stories and get a better sense of the circumstances they are in.

“Well, I’m new on council and so I'm not quite familiar with all the things that are at our disposal, but I'm surprised at the lack of coordination,” said Klassen, adding that there have been a lot of amazing individuals who have stepped up to help.

“Throughout the week, it sort of looked like okay, people are settling into the fact that there is no coordination, and then everybody is sort of just trying to pitch in gently and do what they can. It does speak to the fact that there was no plan.”

In an earlier interview with the Citizen, Mayor Simon Yu had confirmed a local resident donated several large container trailers to help the occupants transport and store their belongings.

He said he hoped they would have a proper plan in terms of course of action by the Sept. 9 deadline.

When asked about the city’s operational role in the decampment of Millennium Park, a statement from the City of Prince George sent to the Citizen referred back to the MOU.

“The City does not have the resources or jurisdiction to provide support services to occupants of Millennium Park,” read the statement.

The city also said it will not be issuing any comment with respect to operations on the site until it has been cleared and secured.

‘Absolutely unacceptable’: Lack of communication confuses Prince George decampment

By Elizabeth McSheffrey 

Global News

Posted September 8, 2023

Work is underway to clear the Millennium Park tent city in Prince George. More than thirty people have been living in the encampment, but in May, council voted to tear it down, citing safety concerns for those living in the camp and police and other first responders.

It’s been a little over a week since the City of Prince George notified residents of the Millennium Park encampment they would need to leave — a process riddled with confusion and poor communication, one advocate tells Global News.

Since the Aug. 31 order to pack up, accommodations have been found for just six of the 30 or so people living in the park. Around 12 are still at the camp with nowhere to go and the rest have fled, according to Phillip Fredericksson.



“They’re full of stress and anxiety. Some people have fled and left all their things because of the fear of forceful removal,” the volunteer for Uniting Northern Drug Users UNDU’ing Stigma said Friday.

“We’re compounding trauma here, this is becoming such a complex PTSD situation.”

Click to play video: 'Prince George removing encampment without offering alternative housing'
Prince George removing encampment without offering alternative housing

His comments come after a Sept. 6 notice from Prince George Fire Chief Cliff Warner ordering the evacuation of all people and removal of all combustible materials from Millennium Park due to “imminent and serious danger to life and property.”

“This order is effective commencing September 7, 2023 at 4:25 p.m. and will remain in effect until it is withdrawn by me in writing,” it stated.

Fredericksson said that notice — issued with no advance warning to those on the frontlines — sent people into a panic. They believed the deadline to vacate Millennium Park had been moved up two days from the Sept. 9 timeline provided by the city.

Drug use on the site increased as a coping mechanism, he added, although as of Sept. 8, no police or fire department action to evict the residents had been taken.

“It was written as a deadline and threatened, and then was not followed through. So we have paid officials in this city who make empty threats and strike fear and anxiety and stress and pain into unhoused residents,” Fredericksson said.

Click to play video: 'Explosive situation at Burnaby homeless camp fire'
Explosive situation at Burnaby homeless camp fire

Global News requested an interview with the mayor or a council member on Thursday, but none was provided.

IN AN EMAILED STATEMENT, HOWEVER, PRINCE GEORGE SENIOR COMMUNICATIONS ADVISOR CLAIRE THWAITES SAID THE FIRE CHIEF’S ORDER TOOK EFFECT ON THURSDAY, BUT DID NOT CHANGE THE CITY’S SATURDAY DEADLINE. SHE FURTHER WROTE THAT NEITHER THE MAYOR NOR COUNCIL IS “IN A POSITION TO COMMENT ON AN INDEPENDENT DECISION OF THE FIRE CHIEF.”

The City of Prince George funds the fire department.

“The City intends to comply with the order of the fire chief in conjunction with its efforts to clear the site pursuant to the Trespass Act,” Thwaites wrote.

“Notice of these efforts was provided to occupants of Millennium Park on August 31, advising that the site must be cleared of all personal possessions or other material by September 8. As a matter of employee safety, the City will not be issuing any comment with respect to operations on the site until it has been cleared and secured.”

Global News has reached out to the fire chief for comment.

Click to play video: 'City of Vancouver ‘tiny shelter’ project behind schedule'
City of Vancouver ‘tiny shelter’ project behind schedule

Reached by Global News on Friday, Coun. Trudy Klassen said that like others, she had interpreted the fire chief’s order to be a deadline: “That sounds to me like a deadline of Sept. 7, 4:25 p.m.”

Klassen was at Millennium Park on Friday helping residents pack and move, alongside Fredericksson. Asked about her message to those now facing uncertain future, she said, “so much in our society is broken these days, and I would say this is just one example of things that are not working well.”

She will “absolutely” follow up with mayor and council to ensure better communication in the future, she added.

“When you’re sitting in city hall, it’s easy to say this, it’s easy to say that — but for the people on the ground, their requirements for notice is not always understood by those sitting around the chamber circle.”

Klassen said Prince George seems to be “getting a bid of a bad rap” when it comes to challenges with housing, mental health and addictions. In part, the councillor said it’s because the major northern city is a “catch basin” for folks in need of support and services from across northern B.C.

She acknowledged, however, “there is more that we could be doing to encourage the co-ordination of services and making sure that we manage, as a city, a little bit better place for all of those things.”

The mayor does have a vision for a city that “takes care of its vulnerable, that is thriving, that is a vibrant community where’s there’s opportunity,” Klassen added.

Click to play video: 'Advocates protest closure of Abbotsford homeless camp'
Advocates protest closure of Abbotsford homeless camp

In an interview with CKPG on Thursday, Mayor Simon Yu said the city is “not in the business of moving people from encampment to encampment.”

“Hopefully, we’ll work together and we can move people from encampment to housing.”

Last year, prior to Yu’s election, the City of Prince George apologized for the harm it caused when it took down structures from the Moccasin Flats encampment, stating it believed at the time they had been abandoned.

The municipality had appealed a court ruling that denied its injunction request to close the encampment. A B.C. Supreme Court judge later determined the city had “inflicted serious harm on vulnerable people” last March, and Prince George withdrew its appeal.

Yu said Thursday the city must prove that sufficient housing exists to accommodate the residents of an encampment before an injunction is granted by the courts.

According to the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, as of 2021, 163 people in Prince George were experiencing homelessness, 82 per cent of whom reported experiencing “chronic homelessness.” Eighty-two per cent also identified as Indigenous, while 10 per cent identified as youth 25 or under.

Fredericksson, however, said the number of unhoused people in Prince George is closer to 500, including people who are accessing other services, couch-surfing or the hidden homeless. UNDU is currently setting up a new wraparound social services shelter to accommodate some, he added, but it’s not expected to be open for clients until October.

Click to play video: 'More than 100,000 British Columbians at risk of homelessness due to lack of affordable rentals'
More than 100,000 British Columbians at risk of homelessness due to lack of affordable rentals

There were apparent challenges last week with regards to the Millennium Park decampment as well.

Fredericksson said no one knew about the eviction order prior to the public, Aug. 31 announcement from the city, and the Sept. 9 deadline was an extension that was obtained through last-minute advocacy.

THE MUNICIPALITY ACKNOWLEDGED AN “APPARENT MISALIGNMENT” BETWEEN MAYOR AND COUNCIL AND HOUSING MINISTER RAVI KAHLON, WHO EXPRESSED HIS DISAPPOINTMENT IN THE DECAMPMENT ORDER AND URGED THE CITY TO RECONSIDER, GIVEN THAT ACCOMMODATIONS HAD NOT YET BEEN SECURED FOR EVERYONE.

Both Prince George and the Ministry of Housing had signed a memorandum of understanding about the provision of resources and work to house residents in need.

In an emailed statement last week, mayor and council said it would investigate “the apparent misalignment” and expected to issue a statement this week. As of Friday morning, no such statement had been posted to the municipality’s website.

Kahlon said Friday that BC Housing and provincial outreach workers continue to engage with residents of Millennium Park, to offer housing when available and making sure they’re aware of nearby shelter options.

“BC Housing’s nurse was also on-site this week and completed 10 health assessments and provided health referrals when needed,” he said in an email.

“As of Wednesday, BC Housing staff and outreach workers have helped four individuals move out of the encampment into long term shelter spaces at the Association Advocating for Women and Community … They will continue monitoring closely to ensure every open shelter space is made available for people. To this end, BC Housing has worked with AWAC to add 10 additional beds.”

An additional 52 supportive homes are currently underway in Prince George, Kahlon added. He did not address a question on the communication challenges of the decampment process.

Click to play video: 'Where will de-camped homeless from Hastings Street go?'
Where will de-camped homeless from Hastings Street go?

Fredericksson, meanwhile, said work to clear the camp for Saturday continues, interrupted periodically by “toxic” jeers and car honking from some passersby who want the camp dismantled.

It has been the site of a fire and drug use, and a police raid also found weapons there.

Fredericksson said he’s disappointed he hasn’t seen a single municipal outreach worker at the camp in the past two days.

He called the lack of overall communication in the past week “absolutely unacceptable” and said he plans to take on a bigger advocacy role at city council meetings to help ensure the pattern “cannot continue.”

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