Shut down of Victoria homeless camp puts spotlight on poverty, activist says
A court order forcing dozens of homeless to pack up and dismantle Victoria’s tent city on Monday hasn’t diminished the attention the controversial site has drawn to the growing problem of homelessness in Canada, an anti-poverty advocate says.
The hodge-podge of tents, hording and tarps on the lawn just outside the court house in British Columbia’s capital drew national attention to the number of people sleeping on the streets.
“We’ve had people sleeping in the parks in Victoria, in doorways, for years and years, and because it was so disparate throughout the community it just wasn’t noticeable and people really didn’t react in the same way as they did when they saw the dire poverty and people there all together,” said Kelly Newhook, executive director of Together Against Poverty Society.
“It was impossible to ignore.”