Judge orders slow down of Edmonton homeless camp removals
CBC
A court battle over a plan to dismantle a number of Edmonton homeless encampments this week ended with lawyers reaching an agreement that will allow tent removals to go ahead — but at a slower pace.
Court of King's Bench Justice Kent Davidson granted an interim injunction late Monday that puts in place a number of conditions for removing encampments at eight sites in central Edmonton.
The conditions were agreed upon by lawyers for the Edmonton Police Service, the City of Edmonton and the Coalition for Justice and Human Rights — a group that advocates on behalf of people living in tents in the city.
Sam Mason, the coalition's president said that while the encampments will still be dismantled, they're pleased that there are new parameters in place to slow the process down.
"I'm just encouraged to continue moving forward. I think that we got what we were going to get, and I think that the community knows that we're fighting for them," Mason said.
The coalition filed an emergency application on Friday, after learning about a plan to remove between 118 to 135 makeshift shelters that EPS had deemed high risk.
The clearing by Edmonton police officers was set to begin Monday morning and run all week, according to emails sent out to a network of social agencies that work with people experiencing homelessness.
City staff were scheduled to be on standby to clean up the sites after the removals.
As news of the operation spread, there was a wave of backlash from a number of city social agencies, activists and even provincial politicians.
On Monday, about 100 people gathered outside the Edmonton Law Courts to protest the encampment closures.
On Friday, both Mayor Amarjeet Sohi and Coun. Anne Stevenson said they weren't made aware of the plan until Thursday night when it started circulating on social media.
After Monday's court hearing, EPS Deputy Chief Warren Driechel said he wanted to clarify that the city operations were involved in the planning to clear the eight sites.
"The statement was made that we were working unilaterally, which we were not. So I think that over the next couple of days, we're going to be assessing — what is the process the high-risk encampment team works under?"
"I know that the city has asked for that as well. So we'll come to the table and have those discussions."
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