By Jen St. Denis, The Tyee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

People who have been working on the housing file for years in British Columbia are cringing at BC Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson’s “law and  order” framing that connects crime with increasing homelessness.

Liberal approach creates a divide

“It further stigmatizes  people who are struggling, and it also creates a divide,” said Nicole  Read, a former mayor of Maple Ridge who dealt with community pushback  against housing for unhoused people during her time in office. 

“It’s very divisive language.”

Re-establish order on our streets

During a press conference Friday, Wilkinson  promised to work with B.C. mayors to stop homeless people from camping  in parks and enforce an existing provincial law against “unsafe roadside  panhandling.”

Wilkinson made his comments  against a backdrop of media headlines about stabbings, weapons and a  recent incident involving a man wielding a chainsaw.

“We need to end these  lawless camps and tent cities in city parks with a provincial mandate to  help these vulnerable people and re-establish order on our streets,”  Wilkinson said.

The messaging comes as residents in  Vancouver and Victoria have been speaking out about safety concerns in  connection with large tent cities that have formed in city parks —  concerns that include aggressive behaviour, thefts and trespassing on  private property.

Targeting people living in poverty

Karen Ward, a Downtown Eastside community  advocate, said it’s troubling to hear Wilkinson advocating for more laws  that target people who are living in deep poverty. A number of B.C.  cities and towns have recently enacted bylaws that prohibit things like sitting on the sidewalk or panhandling.

“People are cited for these violations, and  then they get a fine. Of course, people can’t pay them, and then they  get a warrant issued, and then the cops get involved. And then the whole  cycle begins — that’s criminalization 101,” Ward said.

“And then they wind up down here, and then they wind up dead.”

Ward said she’d like to see more attention  paid to reducing poverty, the root cause of much of the violence and  desperation on display in tent cities.

Courts struck down city bylaws

In 2008 and again in 2015, the B.C. Supreme Court struck down city bylaws — one in Victoria and the other in Abbotsford — that prohibited people  from erecting shelters or sleeping in city parks. The rulings did allow  municipalities to require people to pack up their tents each day.

But Wilkinson said that if elected, his government would provide better safe housing alternatives.

“The courts have relied upon the Charter of Rights to say people need a place to go to,” Wilkinson said.  

“It’s a perfectly appropriate answer, and  the answer is we need places for people to go to that are going to be  effective for them — not just a warehouse where they’re going to be  abandoned by the NDP.”

NDP bought hotels and motels

Wilkinson repeatedly took aim at the BC  NDP’s decision to buy hotels and motels to use for emergency housing  because of the pandemic and growing homelessness sparked by COVID-19  restrictions.

In May, hundreds of people who had been  living at a tent city in Vancouver’s Oppenheimer Park and two sites in  Victoria were moved into those hotels and motels.

Wilkinson said not enough supports had been offered at the hotels.

“The NDP have walked away from tent cities  and said we’ll provide some warehouses for people who are occupying  them, and then it’s the problem of the neighbours, and it’s the problem  of the cities,” he said.

The Howard Johnson Hotel

When the province announced it had leased  the Howard Johnson hotel in Downtown Vancouver to house people who had  been living at Oppenheimer Park, it became an immediate target for  neighbours’ ire, with one condo warning its residents “open drug use, dirty needles and aggressive behaviour” had become more common in the neighbourhood.

But the operator of the Howard Johnson, now called the Luugat, said it appears Wilkinson has been getting his information from social media.

Janice Abbott, CEO of Atira Women’s  Resources Society, said the picture on the ground is much different.  From the beginning, the Howard Johnson has been a quiet building with a  safe drug consumption room located inside the hotel, she said.

“He hasn’t actually reached out or asked  about what’s happening,” Abbott told The Tyee. “I just encourage him to  be better informed.”

Abbott said Yaletown residents who have  complained about more homelessness and more open drug use were likely  seeing the results of service hubs like the Gathering closing because of  COVID-19.

During his media conference, Wilkinson  repeatedly mentioned Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog as someone who he has  spoken to about the issue. Krog, a former NDP MLA, has said some  homeless people with severe mental illness need more help than  supportive housing can provide and should be cared for in institutions.

Jill Atkey, CEO of the BC Non-Profit  Housing Association, said the province went through a process of  de-institutionalization for people with mental illness and cognitive  disabilities decades ago. While some people do need housing with more  supports, Atkey warned that governments and housing providers need to be  careful about making people’s homes feel overly institutional.

Top photo credit: BC Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson has promised to work with BC mayors to stop homeless people from camping in parks and enforce an existing provincial law against ‘unsafe roadside panhandling.’ Photo of Strathcona Park tent city by Jesse Winter.