When I arrived at tent city at 6:30 this morning the only person up was David Arthur Johnston, keeping vigilant watch for the by-law officers who we were told would be coming at 7am to dismantle the tents.
As we sat sipping coffee and watching the sun come up, friends, neighbours, and media began to arrive, and Victoria’s newest community started to come to life.
When the 7am deadline came and went, and no one had arrived to evict the campers, the media swarmed David to find out what he thought of this latest development.
Don’t ask me what he said to the cameras and notepads. Myself and the other independent media kept our distance from the media circus, taking photos of the journalists and laughing at the absurdity of it all. At one point, when one of the campers decided to take down his tent and flee the scene, the tv camera people literally ran over and began filming, circling each other to catch the action from all angles.
At around 9am, one of the campers listening to the radio heard acting mayor Dean Fortin announce that the city would have compassion on the campers, and leave them alone for now. A newspaper article posted online an hour later quoted Fortin as saying that council had created the policy, and it was now up to by-law enforcement to decide if, when and how they would enforce the complaint driven policy.
As far as I can see, there is nothing for people to complain about. I witnessed no drug use, prostitution, littering, vending without permits, indecent exposure, unlicensed dogs, open fires, or anything else for the by-laws to crack down on. Everyone there is homeless (or was until Tent City came along), visitors have been taking garbage out with them, food has been cooked off premises (nearby Food Not Bombs volunteers stayed up all night preparing food for today) and campers have been using public washrooms to relieve themselves. The only possible infraction I can think of right now is the small, recycled federal election campaign sign that now reads ‘Tent City’.
I seriously can’t imagine the SWAT team gearing up to crack down on this most flagrant of public signage violations, though in this city nothing surprises me.
I wasn’t surprised that the council reacted so negatively towards the ruling that struck down their criminal anti-camping by-law, and I wasn’t surprised that they threatened to tear tent city down instead of offering to negotiate with the campers. I’m also not surprised that they couldn’t back up their threats, and have changed to a more conciliatory tune.
Fortin was quoted as saying that they might visit the campers and ‘ask’ them to move to a grassy area, and out from under the trees in Mayor’s Grove, which a nearby sign tells us were planted by the likes of Winston Churchill, the King of Siam and various colonial white male land invaders.
Each day’s local newspaper has been filled with articles about the tent city, and this morning’s paper even featured a whole page of letters from ‘concerned citizens’ who seem to have bought into the city’s fear mongering tactics. No doubt the city’s backpeddling this morning will unleash a whole new wave of criticism and fear.
So far, the only real confrontation that has occurred at the tent city happened last night, when yet another ‘concerned citizen’ ran in and tried to pull up the stakes that were holding up one of the tarps. Other than that, visitors have been friendly, and have included nearby Fairfield and James Bay residents, as well as several candidates for city council, including Rose Henry and David Shebib. A third candidate, Tavis Dodds, is himself a resident of the camp, and may very likely be the only homeless person on the ballot.
A community meeting is being planned for this weekend, where the future of this tent city as well as the possibility of more tent cities will be discussed and planned.
When asked if he thought that the survival of tent city for a fourth straight day was a victory, David Arthur Johnston replied that it is a huge victory, and one that people all across the world will be paying attention to.
The tent city campers are very heartened by the news the people in Vancouver have started camping out at city hall to challenge that city’s bylaws, and they hope to see actions of this kind happen all around the country.
So tent city stands, but for how long is anyone’s guess. Talk around the picnic table there has turned to plans for gardens, composting toilets and other infrastructure required to maintain the community.
My guess is that the city won’t be able to stay away from tent city for very long, and when the by-law officers do arrive, they will be welcomed to set up tents of their own and join the celebration. The more the merrier.
click here for up-to-date independant media articles on this and other tent cities
