BC Just Ruled Sweeping Homeless Camps Off Limits

As the City of Portland wrestles with a housing emergency, and lends support to a new homeless encampment on North Greeley, our closest Canadian neighbors are crafting more lenient policies for dealing with the homeless.

In a lengthy ruling this week British Columbia Supreme Court Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson found that the Vancouver-area city of Abbotsford had violated Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the country’s bill of rights, in carrying out homeless sweeps. The ruling was partly spurred by Abbotsford’s tough crackdowns on homeless camps. The Vancouver Sun reports the city used “chicken manure and pepper spray” when sweeping campers. From the paper’s report:

In his ruling, Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson ruled Abbotsford’s policies violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, while the use of chicken manure was “disgraceful.” But while he noted there is a legitimate need for people to have shelter and rest during the day, he stopped short of ordering Abbotsford to designate a piece of land for a permanent encampment, suggesting that should be left up to municipalities. Instead, he suggested following a Court of Appeal decision in Victoria to allow the city’s homeless to set up shelters in public spaces between 7 p.m. and 9 a.m.

This is Canada, obviously, but the argument made by homeless campers in the BC case seems to be growing more popular in the United States. As we’ve noted, the US Department of Justice recently signed on to the notion that it’s unconstitutional to penalize homeless people for sleeping outside—as Portland and many, many other cities do.

The argument’s been largely unsuccessful in Portland. In February, a Multnomah County judge issued a sweeping ruling rejecting arguments that Portland’s camping ban is unconstitutional. Both prosecutors and defense attorneys said the ruling would make it harder to challenge the ban in the future.

It’s clear the city’s letting up in some ways, though. Just a few months after widespread homeless sweeps on Portland’s Central Eastside, Mayor Charlie Hales’ office is offering assistance to the new “Hazelnut Grove” camp on North Greeley. The city sent a portable toilet to the camp earlier today.

Here’s a video shot by Vahid Brown, a homeless advocate who’s been lobbying the city on the camp’s behalf.