The provincial housing minister wasn't immediately available to comment.īrett was a long-time resident of Victoria's tent city homeless camp on provincial property at the city's downtown law courts. municipalities have been bearing the brunt of homeless issues as provincial and federal governments cast off housing issues to communities. At this time I'm inclined to wait them out and hope they keep their word.”īrett said the municipalities have tolerated the campers in every location. “So far there have been no violent incidents, no property damage. “We're constantly reassessing and we'll continue to do that and in the meantime we're monitoring and liaising on a regular basis as we are with the neighbours,” he said.
Ray Bernoties said Oak Bay's bylaws do not permit overnight camping in municipal parks, but since the campers have said they'll move within seven days police will wait and watch the situation. Oak Bay's deputy police chief said the community is well aware of the campers and police have been on the watch, but so far it has been peaceful. She said the group spent three weeks at different locations in Victoria, two weeks in nearby Saanich and will be in Oak Bay for at least two weeks. “In Canada, you're a fourth-world person in a first-world country if you are Indigenous or homeless.”īrett said the group has camped in various Victoria-area communities for the past seven weeks, moving every seven days. “The government needs to recognize Canadian citizens who are homeless,” she said. “This is more comfortable here than wandering the streets.”īrett spoke as a pelting rain with gusting winds threatened to lift her tent from its supports, while large waves crashed upon the nearby beach. “Every municipality should look at currently having a municipal campground available,” she said. She said the campers spent seven nights on municipal property. Homeless camp spokeswoman Chrissy Brett said the campers arrived Wednesday after taking down their tents at the District of Oak Bay's municipal hall. The latest location for the wandering group of 15 people is Willows Park, a seaside recreation area in the Victoria suburb of Oak Bay, known for its tea rooms, elderly population and turn-of-century mansions worth millions. A nomadic group of homeless people has chosen one of Canada's wealthiest communities to pitch some tents and draw attention to housing shortages for disadvantaged people across British Columbia. Research has repeatedly demonstrated the benefits of outdoor play, including a study last year out of the University of Tennessee that found that kids who played on natural objects, such as logs, were more active and used their imagination more than those who played on a traditional jungle gym.OAK BAY, B.C. In these new schoolyards, children can experience the elements and the seasons, as well as learn through hands-on play in ponds and gardens. "That's where they figure out how the world works."
"If kids are not able to go out and explore the world as they did in past generations, then we have the responsibility to provide them in school gardens," says Sharon Danks, partner at the Berkeley-based landscape architecture firm, Bay Tree Design. There's no time for nature when a child is driven to a school that has a typical yard – asphalt, sports field, play structure – then driven to ballet or soccer or piano or Kumon.īut an international movement is afoot to fix this nature deficit by designing so-called "green playgrounds" at schools.
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