Mobile shelters may be the next phase in Abbotsford, B.C., homeless standoff

A British Columbia city with a longstanding feud with its homeless population could soon employ mobile homeless shelters, perhaps the first step in providing safe, permanent refuge for the community.

The government of Abbotsford has been butting heads with the significant number of homeless that been squatting in a park, taking extreme measures to chase them out of the camp. Last month, the city ordered them to disband and leave the park, only to see them relocate 30 metres away. Such a headache leads folks to thinking, and the idea of portable shelters took root.

CBC News reports that the project is the brainchild of a pastor and the spokesperson for an atheist group. This may sound like the setup for a disappointing joke, but apparently it's not. They did not walk into a bar. They met by chance in a coffee shop and started discussing the homeless issue.

[ Related: Abbotsford homeless pack up camp, move down the street ]

The project would see dozens of small, portable shelters – about the size of a port-a-potty tipped on its side, to areas where homeless would congregate. The units would have a locking door, some shelving and a window. Not exactly "home sweet home," but it would be a roof and a safe place to rest.

Critics have called the devices "coffins on wheels," but take note of this. The shelters are two meters long, about a metre wide and just over a metre tall. These are nearly the exact same basic measurements of the increasingly popular Japanese "capsule hotels," frequently rented by businessmen for approximately $40 per night.

Also, consider Abbotsford's history with its homeless population. Earlier this year, the city's government apologized after staff spread chicken manure over the park in the hopes of scattering the camp.

[ More Brew: ‘Mayor-juana’ candidate takes on Calgary's Naheed Nenshi ]

There have also been pepper spraying incidents and other heavy tactics. So at least this idea, which could conceivably allow the city to set up an ideal homeless camp at the location of their choosing, is a carrot instead of a stick.

Unless it is all part of a strategy to load up the mobile shelters and drive them out of town. Either way, consider it "inside the box" thinking.

Want to know what news is brewing in Canada?
Follow @MRCoutts on Twitter.