Oppenheimer Park's tent city may be gone, but Vancouver's homeless problem still needs to be addressed

After days of preparation, warnings and announcements, Vancouver police descended on a downtown park Thursday and evicted an encampment of homeless residents who had, according to the city and a court injunction, overstayed their welcome.

In what has become the latest and perhaps the last chapter in a long-running standoff at Oppenheimer Park, between the city and its homeless population, five people were arrested after refusing to adhere to a court ruling that allowed the city to clear the encampment from the park.

In the end, Vancouver police say the eviction process went smoothly save for the small group of people who were arrested and could be charged with obstruction and other offenses.

"A small number of campers who appeared intent on remaining in the park interfered with workers as they attempted to remove the last of the tents," police announced following the eviction. "Negotiations throughout the day continued with no progress. Officers were eventually required to step in to keep the peace and forced to arrest five people."

At this point, Oppenheimer Park may be Canada’s best-known public space. While Vancouver’s Stanley Park, High Park in Toronto, or countless other green spaces across the country may be noted for their beauty and scenery, the park in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside makes frequent headlines about the standoff between police and the city’s homeless population.

Campers and protesters began congregating at the park this summer, using it as both an ongoing demonstration of their struggle and a solution – a place to live and sleep when no other options were available. People pitched tents and built temporary shelters, building a tent city that housed hundreds.

The encampment came under immediate scrutiny and, in July, the city announced its intentions to evict people from the encampment. The standoff was raised to another level when the park’s homeless population was backed by aboriginal groups that claimed the park sat on First Nations territory and issued a largely-symbolic eviction notice to police.

Earlier this month, the B.C. Supreme Court granted an injunction ruling that the city had the right to dismantle the camp on the grounds that it caused a danger to the public and its inhabitants.

The Pivot Legal Society had fought against the eviction, claiming it would put the some 200 residents in more danger and suggesting the city should focus on helping poor people, rather than criminalizing their actions.

Lawyer DJ Larkin said the eviction took about 15 hours, and in the end most of those who were removed will end up seeking refuge elsewhere.

“It was pretty sad. A lot of people packed up whatever they could carry and left with that, left many of their belongings behind that were cleaned up,” Larkin told Yahoo Canada News. “A lot of those people left for other outdoor locations.”

Larkin has said that dissolving the camp for safety reasons is “backward logic.” With nowhere else to go, the displaced will seek solace in alleys, doorways, other parks. Or even return to Oppenheimer.

“I have no idea if a tent city will ever return to it, it is a pretty unique circumstance,” she said. “What I can say is Oppenheimer Park has been a refuge for people in this neighbourhood for decades. There are individuals who go there to sleep regularly when they don’t have anywhere safer to go. And I think those people will continue to go back to the park.”

Pivot Legal Society says they that they are not planning to appeal the injunction. With the camp now gone, their focus will turn to an upcoming Supreme Court case into the legality of anti-homeless laws in nearby Abbotsford.

Thursday’s Oppenheimer Park eviction did not come quietly. The Vancouver Police Department announced in advance that officers would wear body-mounted cameras to capture any interaction with the public, and the eviction had been delayed by one day after officers received opposition.

Notably, one dead body was found in the park ahead of the eviction. The death of the 69-year-old man was not considered suspicious, which speaks to the concerns of a lawless encampment, and frankly the concerns of homelessness in general.

Recent counts put Vancouver’s homeless population at 538 people - almost twice as many as last year. A total of 2,770 were counted across the greater Vancouver area.

Vancouver isn’t alone in struggling to handle its homeless population. Victoria, for a time, banned sleeping in public parks. The law was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2008, which ruled that the right to sleep outdoors can’t be denied unless reasonable alternatives are available. In short, if a city can’t promise residents enough shelter services, they can’t stop them from finding their own.

Abbotsford has also struggled with homelessness, winning an injunction last December that allowed them to tear down a tent city that had been erected in a downtown park. Before that, they garnered headlines by trying to scare off a homeless encampment by spreading chicken feces, later apologizing for the actions.

When it comes to permanently clearing British Columbia of tent cities, there is no simple answer. Oppenheimer Park has become a flashpoint in the struggle of Vancouver’s homeless population, both luring the public attention necessary to address the underlying problem and offering a stopgap solution until that day comes.

The B.C. Civil Liberties Association has spoken out about the issue in the past. When the conflict began last July, policy director Michael Vonn said the presence should be allowed by the city as long as fair use of the park isn’t restricted.

"When there is not enough adequate housing available, there must be a more sensitive approach than simply forcing people out of a public park. While we understand the City is working on this, this should be done in discussion with the people involved, rather than coupled with eviction orders,” he said.

Little short of a constant police presence, or an actual solution that finds the city’s homeless a home, is likely to stop some of those who were evicted from returning to Oppenheimer Park – the one-block green space that has become a flashpoint in Vancouver’s struggle with homelessness.

Tent city may be gone, but the problems that created it still need to be addressed.