Homeless camp residents say they don't know where to go as Prince George issues eviction, evacuation orders

Large moving trucks and a dumpster are onsite at a downtown Prince George, B.C., homeless camp whose residents have been told to leave by the end of Friday.

The city issued the order to vacate Millennium Park on Aug. 31, but many of the people in the camp say the nine-day notice is not enough for them to find a new place to live.

"I feel like they didn't give us enough time at all," said Marisa Marie James. "We need places to live. We have no places to live."

"Honestly, it hurts," said fellow resident Tyneesha Savory. "Where are we gonna go?"

In addition to the eviction notice, which was issued by city council following a closed door meeting, the city's fire chief has also issued an evacuation order effective Sept. 7, citing an "imminent and serious danger to life" due to the risk of fires and explosion in the camp.

The evacuation notice also calls for the immediate removal of all hazardous materials, including flammable and combustible materials, while the eviction notice warns any materials left behind after Sept. 8 will be disposed of.

The decision to shut down the camp is the latest in the north-central B.C. city's efforts to tackle the rise of homeless camps that have established a presence in downtown Prince George over the past three years, resulting in two lost court cases, public anger and admonishment from the province, while the city's mayor insists efforts are underway to establish appropriate housing for those who say they have nowhere else to go.

Court-protected camp

The first publicly visible homeless camps in Prince George, which serves an immediate population of roughly 90,000 and acts as a service centre for northern B.C. as a whole, were established in 2021.

At the time, there were two primary locations spanning several blocks: an empty lot across from the downtown courthouse and a separate site a few blocks away, which came to be known as Moccasin Flats.

In the fall of 2021, the city issued eviction notices to residents of both sites and filed an injunction in B.C. Supreme Court in a bid to dismantle the camps.

However, the judge in the case ruled the city had failed to prove there were enough suitable alternatives for residents to move into, resulting in Moccasin Flats effectively being protected by court order.

That protection was reinforced in 2022 when a second judge ruled the city had violated the previous court order by tearing down several structures the city claimed were abandoned but which residents testified they were still using as shelters.

The decision to shut down the camps also drew criticism from the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, with regional Chief Terry Teegee pointing out the majority of homeless residents in Prince George are Indigenous, many with direct ties to residential schools and a foster care system that has been responsible for breaking up families, contributing to addiction and mental health struggles.

Since then, Moccasin Flats has continued to stand, and several service organizations have established operations in the area, providing a supervised consumption site, dumpsters, a warming trailer and portable toilets.

Meanwhile, another camp was established several blocks away in Millennium Park, next to a regional district office and along the Highway 16 entrance into the city, prompting complaints of it being both an eyesore and a safety hazard, with nearby buildings increasing security as a result.

In response to both these developments, city council endorsed a centralized encampment model of redirecting campers to the court-protected Moccasin Flats sites.

But not everyone wants to move: residents of both sites say there are good reasons to keep two separate camps so people who do not get along or pose safety risks to each other aren't forced into the same location.

As Savory put it, "It's gonna cause nothing but a bunch of fights" to force everyone together.

Province admonishes city's plans

Mayor Simon Yu said he would prefer that people being evicted from Millennium Park go into housing while admitting there are currently not enough spaces available for them to do so. 

When asked what happens if people choose not to leave the park, Yu said, "I hope we do not have to cross that."

Yu was first elected to public office in October 2022, and one of his central policy platforms was a promise to build emergency shelters to address the housing situation, similar to those he had helped construct in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia.

He has since backed away from that plan, instead focusing on a June agreement between the city and province to fast-track temporary shelters and permanent housing. 

At the time, Premier David Eby pointed to Prince George as an example of a city willing to work on solving the housing crisis impacting communities provincewide.

But the decision to shut down the Millennium Park camp seems to have frayed those ties: provincial Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon responded with a public statement of disappointment, saying his office had offered Prince George resources, including a dedicated encampment response team and temporary housing units that were turned down and admonished the city for acting "unilaterally" to shut down the camp before supports were in place.

In turn, several city councillors said they were unaware any such offers of help had been made, while Kahlon said in a follow-up interview with CBC News that discussions had been ongoing between municipal and provincial staff members up until the point of last week's eviction announcement. 

"We did offer [the city of Prince George] significant dollars so that we could get more shelter spaces open, but it was a matter of landing on locations that were viable," he said.

Asked about the differing understandings about resources offered by the province, a city spokesperson said, "The city continues to look into this issue and will issue a statement in due course."

Camp residents feeling abandoned

Prince George Coun. Trudy Klassen said she also felt there was a disconnect between the sense of urgency from the province and city council, as they saw more and more people lighting fires to keep warm with summer coming to an end.

"Nights are already getting significantly colder, and people are already using fire to keep themselves warm at night," she said, pointing out that Millennium Park is more densely packed than Moccasin Flats, thereby posing a higher fire risk.

The decision to shut down the camp also comes after an explosion at an unoccupied restaurant, which investigators have not linked to the homeless population but which has reignited general feelings of anger about the state of downtown from many business owners who say they are regularly dealing with theft, vandalism and harassment.

Following the explosion, city manager Walter Babicz sent an email to city staff, which was leaked to several media outlets, including CBC News, promising efforts were underway to shut down encampments while acknowledging the city's previous missteps in court.

"We have been focused on checking all the boxes required to ultimately bring an end to outdoor camping in Prince George," he said, indicating plans to shut down Millennium Park had been months in the making but had not been publicized due to legal concerns.

For his part, Yu acknowledged there was some "misalignment" between the city and the province but emphasized there is a shared goal of moving people off of the street and into safe housing, especially before winter hits.

But at Millennium Park, people like Marisa Marie James, who are most affected by the decision, say they are feeling abandoned as they are forced to move their belongings with no clear place to go.

"I don't feel like it's unsafe here," she said. "It's a community ... there should be no reason why they're trying to kick us out."