Judge delays police's plan for large-scale operation to close Edmonton homeless camps

A judge has ordered Edmonton Police Service to delay plans to begin a large-scale homeless encampment takedown Monday morning until he can rule on the outcome of an urgent court application made by advocates for the people who live in tents in the city's core.

Court of King's Bench Justice James Neilson granted an "interim, interim injunction" late Friday, requiring Edmonton police to wait until at least noon to begin any planned camp removals at eight sites that police have deemed high risk.

Neilson is set to make a ruling Monday morning on an application by the Coalition for Justice and Human Rights, which is seeking to stop or limit the EPS plan.

Lawyers for the coalition said the group decided to intervene Friday because the scale of the removal plan is unprecedented and could happen before an injunction hearing scheduled for January.

"We're hopeful on the evidence and the facts that the court will agree with us that this is unnecessary. This could have waited, and it is not in the spirit of humanity to evict people from their only homes, from the only protection they have from the elements, so close to Christmas," co-counsel Avnish Nanda said Friday. 

The coalition filed its application after being made aware of an email that EPS Staff Sgt. Michael Dreilich sent to social agencies on Thursday, notifying the groups that EPS plans to take down 134 structures at eight "high-risk" encampment sites.

Several sites are on the doorsteps of shelters and social agencies near the downtown core, including the Hope Mission's Herb Jamieson Centre and the Bissell Centre.

Other locations are 95th Street and 101a Avenue, 94th Street and 106th Avenue, 95th Street and 105a Avenue and the Dawson and Kinnaird ravines. The five-day operation will run until Friday, Dreilich said in the email.

During the court application, lawyers for both the City of Edmonton and Edmonton police argued the camps marked for removal are dangerous. Furthermore, that some camps have been the site of two fatal fires in November and sexual assaults have been reported at some of the camps.

The lawyers for the city and police also presented an affidavit from Hope Mission program director Tim Pasma, who said that he believed about 140 to 150 people would be displaced and that Hope Mission has the capacity for 150 new people.

Boyle Street Community Services staff told CBC they believe between 300 and 400 people will be displaced. During the hearing, Nanda argued that criminal events and urgent safety issues in camps should be addressed, but it doesn't make sense to displace dozens or hundreds of other people while doing it.

He also argued that many homeless Edmontonians who live in camps will not go to shelters because of previous bad experiences, concern about religious programming and safety issues.

Spokespeople for the city and the Edmonton Police Service said they will not comment on the removal plan until there is an outcome in the court application.

News of the plan sparked sharp criticism from some social agencies and politicians.