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The future of the Fairview homeless encampment in Penticton, B.C., will return to court next month as concerns continue to grow over safety at the site following a series of fires.
The latest incident occurred Sunday when a tent caught fire at the encampment.
The blaze followed a larger and more explosive fire two weeks earlier, one of numerous fires at the site in recent months.
The encampment is located on provincial land.
In February, the province filed a civil suit seeking an injunction that would allow it to dismantle the camp.
However, the case was postponed to give residents time to secure legal representation
A court hearing is now scheduled to resume on July 20.
“The city has done everything that it can do legally to deal with the situation of the encampment,” said Penticton Mayor Julius Bloomfield. “We’ve been working with the province for the province to do the same.”
Bloomfield said he met with B.C. Attorney General Nikki Sharma last week to discuss the encampment and challenges and risks it poses.
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“We discussed the encampment and the fact that the encampment is on provincial land,” Bloomfield said.
“It was on both city and provincial land and we’ve successfully managed to clear the city land portion but it remains a problem and the province acknowledged that, the Attorney General acknowledged that.”
Independent MLA for Penticton-Summerland Amelia Boultbee said the legal process is taking too long, particularly given ongoing safety concerns at the site.
“I’ve been saying to the ministry for some time now that it’s only a matter of time before someone gets killed,” Boultbee said. “July 20th to 30th, not even remotely fast enough. This should have been done a year ago.”
According to the Penticton Access Centre, the organization supporting encampment residents through the legal process, lawyers have now been secured to represent residents when the hearing resumes.
If the injunction is granted, the province would have the legal authority to evict the roughly two dozen people living at the encampment and clear the site.
In a statement, the Ministry of Housing said the encampment is not a safe place for people to shelter and that the province remains committed to moving people indoors.
However, advocates have argued that local shelter space is at or near capacity, leaving few alternatives for those living at the site.
While Boultbee supports clearing the encampment because of safety concerns, she said more action is needed to address the factors contributing to homelessness and addiction.
“We really need to address the root causes of these devastating social problems,” Boultbee said. “I’ve always maintained that we need detox beds here in Penticton-Summerland. We don’t currently have any and folks need access to real, actual treatment.”
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