Frank Johnstone, a homeless truck driver, walks through a treed area near his tent where Abbotsford city officials spread chicken maneure in an effort to keep homeless people from living in the area in Abbotsford, B.C., in June, 2013.Jeff Vinnick/The Globe and Mail
During his campaign, Abbotsford mayoral candidate Henry Braun suggested several steps the city could take to tackle homelessness, including pushing for social housing projects and specialized mental-health teams.
Now that he has been elected, Mr. Braun faces the challenge of putting those steps into effect in a city whose highest-profile homelessness strategy to date has involved spreading manure at a site where homeless people were known to gather.
"I know that during the campaign, homelessness was a central issue and that individuals, including Mr. Braun, the mayor-elect, have indicated they want to work toward positive solutions to create housing and keep people safer," D.J. Larkin, a lawyer with Vancouver-based Pivot Legal, said on Monday. "I think that's hopeful."
Pivot is representing the B.C./Yukon Association of Drug War Survivors, known as DWS, which in March filed a court action to challenge three Abbotsford bylaws on constitutional grounds. The bylaws, DWS maintains, are unconstitutional because they violate homeless people's rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, including the right to assemble.
Pivot is also defending some people who were evicted from an Abbotsford homeless camp known as Jubilee Park.
The DWS court action involves what the group alleges are "displacement tactics" by the city, including eviction notices issued to people in parks or other city property; the use of bear spray by Abbotsford police officers on homeless people's tents and belongings; and, in 2013, the spreading of chicken manure on a long-standing homeless camp.
The DWS filed its case in March. The city sought to have the case dismissed, arguing, among other things, that DWS lacked legal standing to bring the lawsuit. In September, a Supreme Court of B.C. judge rejected the city's argument. The case is now expected to go to a six-week trial in June.
Mr. Braun was not immediately available for an interview. But in comments to media before the election, he spoke out in favour of supportive housing projects and said the city would need to convince B.C. Housing that Abbotsford deserves another chance for money that had been on offer for social housing within its boundaries.
Former mayor Bruce Banman in February cast the deciding vote against a proposed low-barrier housing project for which B.C. Housing, the provincial housing agency, had agreed to provide funds. It was to be built on a downtown site donated by a social services agency.
Mr. Braun and several other councillors had pushed for the 20-bed facility, which was opposed by business groups.
Ms. Larkin said it would be premature to speculate whether potential changes in Abbotsford could result in any changes for the court case, saying neither she nor representatives from the DWS had spoken to the new mayor. And the issues to be aired in the court case are relevant for other jurisdictions, she said.
"What we see in municipalities across British Columbia, and to my understanding across that country, is that bylaws and even criminal code enforcement are used to displace people who are homeless and to marginalize people who are poor," she said.
"It's really impossible for homeless people in every single municipality to fight this alone, so this is an opportunity for the court to explore what is going on and to make some strong statements that could apply in other jurisdictions."
In September, a provincial court judge dismissed a constitutional challenge from Pivot to the City of Vancouver's vending bylaw. Pivot had argued the bylaw interfered with people's right to try to make a living by selling goods on the street.
Wendy Stueck