Victoria homeless camp faces legal showdown as B.C. looks to clean up site
VICTORIA — Chris Parent says he was offered shelter space that includes a bed, bathroom and heat, but he’s staying put in his tent on the grounds of Victoria’s courthouse.
Housing Minister Rich Coleman says the B.C. government has homes for every courthouse camper but some are refusing to leave, forcing him to go to court in an attempt to take down the camp. Coleman said he’s already started looking for landscapers to clean up the grounds.
Parent is one of the more than two dozen people named in the government court application to evict the remaining homeless campers from the tent city occupying the lawn of Victoria’s courthouse. A court date is set for Thursday.
“We are making a political statement,” said Parent, who pitched an eight-person yurt at the downtown courthouse last November and adorned it with aboriginal art and Tibetan flags.