Tents in Edmonton inner city torn down as encampment removals continue

On an Edmonton street once crowded with tents, workers in white hazmat suits sifted through tarps, sleeping bags and blankets on Wednesday morning, slowly stuffing trash bags into the back of a garbage truck.

Tents scattered across central Edmonton are being torn down as a court battle over the city's encampment removals policy continues.

Makeshift shelters at three camps are expected to be removed today by city workers and police.

The sites marked for removal are near social agencies, including the Bissell Centre. As of Wednesday morning, city workers were clearing one of the sites, along 105A Avenue in the heart of Chinatown.

The encampments are among eight sites that have become central to a legal challenge against the city and police for how they choose to dismantle homeless encampments.

The legal dispute escalated last month after front-line agencies learned of a plan to remove up to 135 makeshift shelters at eight sites in central Edmonton deemed high-risk by the city.

The city has said the camps are too dangerous to remain standing. Advocates for homeless people in Edmonton say taking them down puts encampment residents at risk.

The encampment removed from Edmonton's inner city Wednesday morning is among eight sites the city has deemed high risk. (Travis McEwan/CBC)

All eight camps were slated to be removed on Dec. 18, but the plan was paused after a wave of public backlash and a request for an emergency injunction.

The same day, a Court of King's Bench judge issued an interim injunction which delayed the removals until certain conditions were met. Under the injunction, the city and police must issue notice to the people living in them, and make sure alternative accommodations are available for residents.

The Coalition for Justice and Human Rights, an Edmonton-based group which advocates for people living in encampments, challenged the removals in court. The coalition says the city's removals policies are a violation of the Charter rights of people who reside in the camps.

Justice Kent Davidson's interim order will last until Jan. 11, when court will hear an earlier injunction application from the coalition, which has launched a lawsuit against the city over its policy of removing homeless camps.

In a statement Tuesday, the city said the remaining sites deemed high risk will be reassessed and notifications provided to occupants and social agencies in accordance with the court orders.

As of Wednesday, more than 200 spaces are currently available throughout Edmonton's shelter providers, the city said.

River valley camp cleared

An encampment overlooking the ravine near Dawson Park in central Edmonton was dismantled Tuesday.

Jordan Morgan, a advocate for unhoused people with Water Warriors — an Edmonton-based charity that distributes water, food, warm clothing and bedding to people in need — was there as city workers and police officers descended on the camp near Dawson Park.

Morgan said it was painful to watch people forced from their homes.

"All these people together make a family," he said. "To actually come and watch people packing up what little they have to try and find somewhere else to go, it's heartbreaking."

He said people living in extreme poverty are just trying to survive and that evicting them from camps puts them in additional danger.

He said all levels of government need to do more to provide social and affordable housing spaces to people in need.

"Imagine being out here, exposed to the elements and be expected to move what little you have and find somewhere else," Morgan said.

"People need to have a lot more compassion for what's going on and not treating these individuals in these encampments like they're criminals."

Rachelle Gladue, co-founder of the Tawa Outreach Collective, said dismantling the camps only works to uproot vulnerable people. Without addtional emergency housing options, many will just set up camps elsewhere, she said.

"There's no solution in the end, it's just moving from one spot to another," Gladue said. "The biggest thing I hear from folks is that they're not told where they can go, it just it can't be here."

City workers cleared a camp in Edmonton's river valley Tuesday as the city continues to face legal action over how it approaches encampment removals. (CBC / Radio-Canada)