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Victory for Right to Sleep Campaign

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Click here for B Channel Coverage of the appeal decision in the Victoria vs. Adams tent city charter challenge.

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Click on the Video above to watch Catherine Boies Parker explain the appeal decision to activists and defendants in her office.

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Click on the Video above to watch City of Victoria Councillor Phillipe Lucas speak on the Victoria vs. Adams appeal.

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Click on the Video above to hear Catherine Boies Parker, lawyer for the homeless defendents, speak on the Victoria vs. Adams appeal decision,

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Click on the Video above to watch Simon Ralph, a defendant in Victoria vs. Adams, speak on the appeal decision.

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Click on the Video above to watch Chris Johnson of TASC speak on the right to sleep ruling

City of Victoria Loses Anti-Camping Appeal

Article by Chris Johnson B Channel News Producer / Temporary Autonomous Shelter Collective member
Videography and Video Editing by Andrew Ainsley

December 11, 2009

Local homeless rights activists are celebrating a victory today in a four year court battle for the right to camp in city parks.

The BC Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal made by the City of Victoria regarding the October 14, 2008 BC Supreme Court decision. That decision declared that certain sections of the Parks Regulation Bylaw violated Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and are “of no force and effect insofar and only insofar as they apply to prevent homeless people from erecting temporary shelter”

A small crowd of media, activists and defendants from the case gathered at the law offices of Underhill Faulkner Boies Parker to hear the verdict. A jubilant Catherine Boies-Parker, one of the lawyers for the homeless defendants, arrived at 10:30am from the courthouse to deliver the news.

“We won! You all won!” said Boise-Parker. “We won the first time, and they confirmed that and so we won again.”

Today’s ruling also upheld the earlier decision granting special costs to the defendants.

The appeal court judges also decided to alter the wording of the ruling to limit the rights of the homeless to nighttime sleeping.

“I think that the message that this sends is that whenever government enacts a law or policy, they have to take into account the impact that it’s going to have on the most vulnerable and marginalized people, including people on the street.” said Boies-Parker. “I think it’s time now to stop arguing what is a very simple point; that homeless people need to be able to keep themselves warm and safe and dry and move on to finding creative ways to do that that works for everybody.”

The BC Court of Appeal is the highest court in British Columbia, giving this ruling provincial-wide implications.

City spokespeople are refusing comment until after in-camera discussions with lawyers and council on Thursday morning.

Stay tuned to B Channel News. Video coverage of this story will be posted before Thursday’s City Council meeting. While this issue is not on the agenda for Thursday’s meeting, the public may address council at any meeting on any municipal issue, so long as they contact City Hall before 11am on the day of the meeting. Forms to do this are available online, and can be submitted online, mailed, faxed or dropped off at City Hall.

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Chris Johnson is a B Channel producer, and a member of the Temporary Autonomous Shelter Collective.