Provincial park ordered closed after homeless campers move in
Tent city residents moved to Goldstream Provincial Park after being asked to leave other spaces this week
The province now says there is no deadline for around 30 homeless campers to leave Goldstream Park near Victoria, after the group faced eviction Thursday morning.
The group of homeless campers who had hoped to settle for two weeks at a provincial park near Victoria were originally told on Thursday morning to pack up and leave, less than a day after setting up their tents.
The group was ordered off a provincially owned green space in nearby Saanich earlier this week, just days after a court order forced them out of another park that some of the campers had occupied since the spring.
B.C. Parks closed Goldstream Provincial Park at 5 p.m. PT on Wednesday.
Park rangers and RCMP were on site Thursday morning, asking any remaining campers to leave. A stream of RVs drove out of the park as activists drove U-Hauls in the other direction, heading to pack up the homeless campers' belongings.
Goldstream Park is now closed as RCMP prepare to evict homeless campers. RVs are slowly pulling out of the campground <a href="https://t.co/DDYD3zpgmG">pic.twitter.com/DDYD3zpgmG</a>
—@lizziepetraLocals and tent city supporters now shouting at each other as MoE announces 24 hour extension for campers in the park <a href="https://t.co/MM2Bl1pCHB">pic.twitter.com/MM2Bl1pCHB</a>
—@lizziepetraB.C. Housing Minister Selina Robinson released a statement on the closure, saying the province is sending personnel to work with campers to find a long-term solution.
"The park is not an appropriate place for the establishment of a tent city," Robinson said. "We urge those at Goldstream to work with staff to identify better housing solutions."
Chrissy Brett, a spokesperson for the campers, said the decision to close was a surprise because the group believed it was abiding by campground rules and had just completed the paperwork required for passes granting disabled people a free stay for up to two weeks at the park.
In July, North Thompson Provincial Park near Clearwater, B.C., was suddenly closed and all campers were ordered to leave as RCMP evicted a protest by an Indigenous group opposed to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
The park closure was originally approved by the province from July 6-9 for a cultural ceremony, but some people stayed behind to protest the pipeline project.
With files from Elizabeth McArthur