theQuestion: Should local governments enact bylaws that would allow and regulate legal tent cities for the homeless?*
In the Duel, it’s customary to address the question, then articulate a stand and deliver a full-throated argument in favour of your position — not necessarily in that order. This week my Duel colleague has done neither.
Laila has delivered a half-hearted argument in favour of legal tent cities for the homeless in Metro Vancouver. My opponent simply blames government for inaction and cryptically states that if nothing is done, the Seattle example — proliferation of regulated tent cities — awaits. I saw no demonstration of why this is a good idea.
Why such a veiled effort? Because tent cities — regulated or not — are a terrible option for the homeless and everyone knows it.
Metro Vancouver should not allow tent cities for the homeless. They are not a permanent solution. Bylaws legalizing tent cities only codify an approach that distracts communities from focusing on real solutions to the problem and does nothing to mitigate the transient nature of homelessness. They provide no platform for the building of long-lasting communities and they do nothing to enrich the neighbourhoods around them.
Often you hear the argument from those living in tent cities that they are a better alternative to city shelters. It’s a stretch to believe that living in a makeshift camp is safer than a roof over your head. Time and again it’s proven that encampments create risks for their inhabitants related to safety, health and sanitation. Beyond the trash and public urination/defecation is the ever-present danger posed from concentrated alcohol and drug abuse, violence and rape. Does legalizing the encampments reduce these risks? No.
We are only a few months away from another season of encampments and local governments should begin now to formulate action plans to be ready. The first step is to develop policies and processes that prevent homeless encampments from taking root.
Last year as the Oppenheimer Park tent city was being dismantled, a cadre of staff from BC Housing, the City of Vancouver and the Carnegie Outreach Team were there to assist those living in the camp to find housing. For the majority, that goal was achieved.
When the first tents go up this year, the police need to kindly and gently remove them — instead of waiting for the camp to proliferate. Accompanying police should be the same staff from governments and groups to help connect the homeless with more permanent alternatives. Instead of after the fact, let’s make them “first responders.”