Crab Park Emergency Decampment Fund

CRAB Park Tent City / Ayx Village is a nearly 3 year old thriving community hub of mutual support. Our friends at CRAB are at grave risk due to a recent horrific announcement from the City of Vancouver, who has been out to dismantle this encampment since it began.

The January 2022 court-ruling (led by the incredible resident K) granted residents the right to daytime sheltering largely due to court evidence of a lack of accessible, affordable housing, a situation which remains the same over 2 years later. Crab's legal win was confined to a small designated area by the General Manager of the Park Board in April that same year. And now the designated area itself is under attack in an alarmingly insidious way.

In March 2024, the City publicized a timeline of a "clean-up", when they will force everyone from their homes in the designated area, "re-locate them" to a temporary area and bulldoze every structure remaining. The city will only allow people who were already living in the area to return, rather than leave this up to residents. The City states this "isn't a decampment" but removing people from their community, throwing away their belongings and attacking their livelihoods is nothing other than a decampment. Homes which residents have spent years building will be destroyed. The City has provided no written documentation of the "health-risks" they claim to have seen and VCH has also stated no public health order was issued. The City also haven't told anyone where the "temporary area" will be. Residents brought a petition to Parks leadership and provided 30 + recommendations but nothing has been implemented so any "consultation" the City claims to have been done is a boldfaced lie. Requests are simple: allow residents to clean-up themselves (which they already do on a regular basis), wait until the Human Rights Complaint is resolved, and provide a detailed written out agreement which has been signed by all parties and their lawyers. Notably so, part of the Human Rights Complaint includes bad-faith dealings with the City, and this "clean-up" is a pressing example of this, as plans have been made behind closed doors, without involving residents.

https://medium.com/@crabtown101/press-release-no-dual-process-no-eviction-residents-respond-and-state-bad-faith-communication-b355dbb11721

As a report on encampments from the Federal Housing Advocate states:

"Actions to restrict or relocate encampments are often taken in the name of safety and public security. However, the failure to consult encampment residents, protect their belongings, and provide adequate and acceptable alternative housing has the direct consequence of increasing risks to their health and safety."

We began this fundraiser after park rangers and the VPD raided 22 tents outside the designated area of CRAB Park in November in a horrific demonstration of state violence. We have since found out that all but 3 tents were thrown away immediately. Advocates have been unable to retrieve the 3 tents despite hours spent navigating the bureaucracy of 311, something incredibly challenging to do without stable phone access (not something which many unhoused people are able to have). We are re-launching this fundraiser as the need is higher more than ever for supporter donations. We thank everyone very much who contributed to this fundraiser already and have included a spreadsheet about how funds were allocated: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kOQfg7XODORNU2GrdLW-2Zra-PJFMr8vEst9ibp9G1M/edit#gid=0

The First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC) has spoken out against this impending decampment:

"This move by the Vancouver Park Board is none other than a forced eviction and is a blatant disregard of human rights exposing a distinct lack of empathy and compassion for the dehoused. Without readily available housing alternatives, confiscating the structures that have been put together by park residents is totally unacceptable."

https://www.bcafn.ca/news/fnlc-calls-vancouver-park-board-halt-planned-eviction-crab-park#:~:text=Furthermore%2C%20a%20Supreme%20Court%20decision,planned%20eviction%20of%20CRAB%20Park.

Supporters of CRAB and residents can purchase life-saving essentials:

$45 - One sleeping bag

$50 - Small tent (3 person)

$15 - Large tarp

$8 - Warm socks

Background:

CRAB Park Tent City / Ayx Village is the first-ever officially designated, legal daytime sheltering space in the entire country. It was established as the result of sustained community organising, and the ongoing resilience and resistance of its residents.

In January 2022, CRAB Park defeated the Vancouver Park Board in a monumental court ruling, (Bamberger v. Vancouver (Board of Parks and Recreation) which granted people at the park the right to shelter in the daytime. It was proven through affidavits that there exists a lack of housing in the city, a situation which 2 years later persists. In April of 2022, the Park Board put up a general notice outlining a “designated area” for those residing in that CRAB Park, an area much too small relative to the amount of unhoused people in the city. Due to overcrowding in the “designated area” for sheltering in CRAB Park, up to 20 tents were on the hillside area over the past month. The Metro Vancouver homeless count jumped 32% since 2020. Park ranger and VPD presence on the hill has increased dramatically since early November, harassing those who don’t fit within the designated area. Stealing the belongings of unhoused people violates the UN Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the UN Special Rapporteur on adequate recommendations as it is forcing people from where they have been surviving unless they are able to replace what they’ve had thrown away by park rangers & the VPD.