Homelessness is a very difficult topic. It’s tragic at an individual level, and a crisis at a societal level. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s a humanitarian disaster. So it’s vitally important that governments at all levels, non-profits, researchers, businesses and residents all make what contributions we can, individually and collectively, to address homelessness.
To do that effectively, we need to share information and work to build a shared understanding of the causes of homelessness, and of the approaches being undertaken to address it. In that regard, I have seen a suggestion that the City’s approach to addressing homelessness is to punish unhoused people by confiscating their possessions, and that is not accurate and not helpful.
Does the City have to deal with people’s possessions at times? Yes, unfortunately. The City has a responsibility to keep sidewalks clear and safe for people walking and people using wheelchairs and mobility devices (and this includes unhoused people). Having tents and tarps blocking sidewalks is unsafe. The City also owes it to all residents – housed and unhoused – to ensure that parks can be used by everyone.
The City has to clean sidewalks – pick up litter and sometimes wash or hose them down. Some sidewalks can have human waste / seagull and other animal waste / biohazards accumulating if they are not cleaned regularly. Obviously for that cleaning to take place, possessions need to be moved.
There is no bylaw saying that a person can’t be in public spaces. There is a bylaw saying you can’t leave possessions on those spaces. It’s the same as a homeowner parking their car on the sidewalk – it’s not allowed for anyone’s possessions.
So our Bylaw staff keep sidewalks and other public spaces from becoming blocked, and access it for cleaning, by asking people to remove their belongings. I have been there many times on Pandora and in parks and witnessed it. The process is slow, and generally people do move their belongings when asked.
When belongings have been left and the owner is not there, or when a person is there but unable or unwilling to move their items and can’t get anyone else to help them, the City moves them. The City carefully stores what items can be stored, and owners can come and pick them up from storage. Sleeping bags and other items that are soaked or soiled and otherwise ruined cannot be stored for reasons of safety, mould, etc. Such items are disposed of – but again, this only happens if they have been left behind or the owner can’t or won’t move them.*
This is not the City’s approach to homelessness though. It is the City’s approach to possessions that are left behind on sidewalks and other public spaces. The City’s approach to homelessness is quite different and is mentioned on the City website, e.g. at https://www.victoria.ca/community-culture/housing/homelessness-initiatives and at https://www.victoria.ca/city-government/community-safety-bylaw-services/temporary-overnight-sheltering.
The City’s approach to homelessness includes:
- Approving far more supportive housing than any other municipality in this region, and indeed far more than all the others combined.
- Partnering with provincial and regional governments to provide affordable housing.
- Hiring a relocation and outreach coordination service, which has helped many people sheltering outdoors to move indoors to shelters and to supportive housing.
- Bylaw changes to allow more rental housing to be built in order to increase the vacancy rate and restrain rent increases, thus helping to reduce one of the pathways into homelessness.
- Supporting homelessness prevention programs like the BC Rent Bank.
- Protecting tenants through implementation of the Tenant Assistance Policy, which this term Council made into a bylaw that covers a wider range of applications.
- Supporting organizations that work with people experiencing homelessness.
I have been pointing out frequently that much of this City work on homelessness is temporary, stop-gap work, and that the Provincial Government has a comprehensive homelessness plan called Belonging in BC. That plan addresses supportive housing, complex care housing, and encampments, including storage of possessions. The province is rolling out the Plan across BC, and I expect the Province to take over many of the things that the City has been doing.
I outline this info in order to help people to understand the reality of the City’s approach to homelessness and the larger context so that we can all get more done, more effectively, and more quickly. Of course, as I have said many times, I only speak for myself and one should consult the City website for official info.
* I’ve written more about the impounding process: https://davethompsonvictoria.ca/bylaws-encampments-impounding-storage-etc/#more-965. That post also contains more links to related topics.
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