Desperate for a place to live, homeless people began erecting tents on the Victoria courthouse lawn in October 2015. Eight months passed. The tents were interspersed with walkways and communal spaces. Tiny gardens were planted and trees were decorated. A community was born. It was called Super InTent City.
For the first time in Canadian judicial history, a judge recognized that Canada’s shelter system is failing the very people it is intended to assist. When the British Columbia government brought the first injunction application to shut down Super InTent City in February 2015, Chief Justice Hinkson found that overcrowding, violence, minimal supports and rigid rules make it difficult for people to secure or maintain a bed in shelters. There stood Super InTent City, an alternative (‘not so pretty’) where the lives of homeless people had improved: the residents felt more secure, had better access to services, mental and physical health, had a safe place to store their belongings, and had found a place to simply belong. The injunction was refused. Justice Hinkson could not countenance displacing the tent city residents until they had access to safe, secure, and affordable housing.
In June, the province brought a second injunction application to shut down Super InTent City. On the understanding that the province will provide all residents with safe affordable housing by August 8, Justice Hinkson granted the injunction. It was a loss at court but a win for the residents of tent city.
High rents. Low vacancy rates. Diminishing incomes. It is little wonder that increasingly Canadians have no place to call home. The problem of affordable housing in Canada is ever growing. Not affordable housing in terms of homeownership. Affordability in terms of a person’s ability to rent a place of residence that leaves enough for other basic necessities such as groceries, bus tickets, child-care, medicine and so much more. Today, Canadians struggling to find affordable housing are spending not 30% of their income (the ideal ratio) but over 50% of their income and sometimes more on housing. Many are a paycheque away from becoming homeless. This isn’t just a ‘problem’ in Canada. This is a growing crisis of housing affordability in Canada.
So it is no small irony that while Justice Hinkson was hearing the injunction to evict tent city residents in June, the federal, territorial and provincial housing Ministers were conferring in a fancy hotel in Victoria to determine the fate of housing in Canada. Shockingly, ending the crisis of homelessness and precarious housing in Canada did not appear to be at the top of the agenda. Minister Duclos indicated that “limited resources” are a barrier to solving this problem. Yet homelessness costs Canadians over $7 billion a year. Rather than spending these monies on keeping people homeless, the federal and provincial governments could do the right thing and provide housing. Who knows, they might even save money in the process.
While I sat in court at the injunction hearing in June, there was much discussion about rats in tent city. Talk of their size – were they really as big as small dogs? Whether the rats were a result of tent city or simply endemic to Victoria. And so on. The real questions got lost in the details. Why do we condone people living in tents in the midst of rats? How did we arrive at this place in Canada?
What is remarkable about Super InTent City is its success in pressuring the province to recognize the affordable housing crisis in British Columbia. It took both courage and desperation. But people who are homeless should not be forced to take these measures in order to secure their right to a safe, secure, and affordable home.
Let’s begin asking better questions and understanding the perspectives of the most marginalized populations in Canada. Let’s rebuild our sense of community, our empathy for all (rich and poor), and build a nation truly grounded in equal rights. As Justice Hinkson recognized, “To assert that homelessness is a choice ignores realities such as poverty, low income, lack of work opportunities, the decline in public assistance, the structure and administration of government support, the lack of affordable housing, addiction disorders, and mental illness.” It is time for all levels of government to take a page from Justice Hinkson’s book and recognize that housing is a right for all. It is time for all Canadians to band together and say no to homelessness, displacement and the vilification of the poor.