“We are about to start a tent city… to protest the current condition of things [because] homeless people have nowhere else to go,” said Martin Girard, a legal advocate for the Victoria Liberation Front, a human rights non-profit which supports Greater Victoria’s homeless community.
In front of a small but growing crowd in downtown’s Centennial Square on Sunday (Dec. 1), Girard and other activists, joined by unhoused individuals, shared their stories of run-ins with the law before setting off on a kilometre-long march to the B.C. Provincial Court shortly after 3 p.m.
The demonstration was planned to culminate with protesters pitching tents and spending the night in a green space behind the government building, aiming to denounce what Girard described as “forced displacements,” otherwise known as street sweeps or encampment cleanups. However, the courthouse playground was fenced off, preventing camping in the area. Instead, a few tents were set up at Centennial Square near Victoria City Hall.
Girard, who blames the city for willfully trying to “scatter” homeless folks from downtown, calls this practice a violation of Article 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees the life, liberty, and personal security of all Canadians.
He considers shelter as a fundamental right, contending that preventing the homeless from camping in the streets will ultimately lead to worse outcomes as fall turns to winter.
“These people are going to die in corners of the city, from overdoses, hypothermia, and violent acts,” said Girard who has lived in the streets of Victoria in the past. “They become more vulnerable and there are a thousand dangers out there.”
He added that the only three parks in Victoria where overnight sheltering is allowed – Gonzales, Pemberton, and Oaklands – are all located far from essential services downtown, and not suited for the needs of the homeless population.
Shea Smith, co-founder of the Homeless Idea podcast, who is currently unhoused and a protest attendee, supported Girard’s claim.
“[Homeless folks] have gone deeper into the underground… and it’s harder for everybody to reach them,” he said. “They are more vulnerable and will start using alone. You're going to see the numbers [of fatalities] go up.”
Victoria News recently reported that the city’s street community mourned the loss of nine lives in seven days – a grim peak in recent memory.
Echoing similar arguments to Girard and citing court cases, Smith questioned the rationale behind Victoria bylaws conducting street sweeps, calling them essentially counterproductive.
“There are not enough shelter spaces to meet the number of homeless people, so erecting shelter is perfectly legal and [bylaw services are] trying to take that away from us,” said Smith. “There is no other place for us to go and they've given us no alternatives.”
As Smith returned to the group, he urged everyone to rethink their view of homelessness and understand the issue from a holistic perspective.
“[Instead of] looking at us as the problem, also look at the housing crisis… that needs to be addressed,” he said. “People have to stop being criminalized because they're homeless.
“Put yourselves in our position and ask yourselves what would you do to survive.”
Tammy Cardinal was among the crowd, lending her support to the protest. Having lived on the streets in recent years, she wanted to share her experience to help move the dialogue forward.
“Bylaw [officers are] dehumanizing the [unhoused] and breaking them to the point where they do not want to live and want to take their life,” she said.
Cardinal said she contemplated ending her life after bylaws raided her nine times in October 2023.
“They left me without blankets, jackets or food,” she said. “They took everything that meant anything to me.”
Having experienced firsthand what she described as a vicious cycle, Cardinal said that additional enforcement isn’t the solution to homelessness – it only aggravates the problem. She claimed that homeless people, like all citizens, have the right to live without being at the mercy of the elements.
“Just because they don't have homes, doesn't mean that they're not a part of this community,” said Cardinal. “They're citizens and they… should be treated with respect and human decency. We all deserve a place to go and be warm. Winters are the most horrific.”
