Victoria is preparing to set a tentative end date for prohibiting people from sheltering in Stadacona Park after the call was made by councillors on Thursday (June 15).
The Fernwood park came up for discussion as council also voted in favour of crafting bylaws finalizing the end of overnight sheltering in Beacon Hill and Central parks.
People are already barred from staying in Beacon Hill Park overnight, but that temporary bylaw measure is set to expire on July 8. Bringing in a permanent prohibition is a response to that expiry date and would align with recent court decisions that went against overnight sheltering in the park, the city said.
Central Park – which houses the Crystal Pool facility, a playground, multiple sports fields and tennis and basketball courts – was damaged by flooding in 2021 and that impacted those sheltering there. The city said areas of the park are still susceptible to flooding and Central Park’s temporary sheltering prohibition lapsed last September.
Coun. Jeremy Caradonna pushed a motion to have Stadacona Park added to the list of parks where sheltering is prohibited. That would come into effect on Nov. 1, subject to the ability to offer housing or “better shelter” to those in the park as of Thursday (June 15).
As the city emerges from the impacts of the pandemic, Caradonna said it’s time to move away from sheltering in parks, adding that overnighting at Stadacona has caused stress for those sheltering, for enforcement officials forced to do a job they don’t want to do and on park users and families.
He said work on accessible playground features has already displaced some of those people sheltering at Stadacona, plus the number of those individuals is small and dwindling. The housing provisions of his motion would also look to stop the cycle of displacing people just for them to settle nearby, Caradonna said.
The lone vote against Caradonna’s motion was Coun. Marg Gardiner, who called it “discriminatory.”
“I find it very much pits neighbourhood against neighbourhood, resident and resident and shows, frankly, bias,” she said.
Coun. Susan Kim voted in favour of the motion, but questioned how the city could define “better shelter,” as moving people inside is not always a desired option for some.
The Stadacona Park motion will be subject to a procedural vote at a council meeting in two weeks.
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