The latest B次元官网网址渢ent cityB次元官网网址� atrocity in Nanaimo should have signalled the end of soft, uninformed support by politicians and media for the professional organizers of urban B.C.B次元官网网址檚 neighbourhood-invading squatter camps.
In case you missed it, self-styled anarchist-communist-whatever B次元官网网址渉ousing activistsB次元官网网址� broke into an elementary school and trashed it. This went beyond the usual squatter filth and scattering of government-supplied needles amid the garbage. The destruction was systematic, smashing doors and windows and tossing desks around to make some kind of deluded political statement. The school district is facing a six-figure security and repair bill.
The invaders had time to do this because police didnB次元官网网址檛 know if they were armed, so they called in the emergency response team for an armoured entry. If this sounds like a response to low-grade terrorism, thatB次元官网网址檚 because it was.
NanaimoB次元官网网址檚 notorious tent camp and its associated crime is the latest project of an outfit calling itself Alliance Against Displacement. I started tracing its activities three years ago, when green space next to VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 courthouse was taken over by squatters.
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In 2016, organizer Ivan Drury bused in B次元官网网址渟upportersB次元官网网址� from the Lower Mainland to the Victoria camp, where among other incidents, a CTV camera operator was assaulted. Drury and company boast of establishing squats in Maple Ridge, Abbotsford, the notorious Whalley B次元官网网址渟tripB次元官网网址� in Surrey and now Nanaimo.
Island organizer Chrissy Brett burst on the scene at the Victoria squat, going on to stage a series of tent camps around the bakerB次元官网网址檚 dozen of municipalities that make up the Capital Regional District. ItB次元官网网址檚 apparently quite easy to round up drifters who have been kicked out of the regionB次元官网网址檚 many shelters, and gather them where they can vent their anger against the system that tries to help them.
Brett constantly plays the Indigenous B次元官网网址渟tolen landB次元官网网址� card. She says sheB次元官网网址檚 from Bella Coola, and as CFAX radio host Adam Stirling revealed in the only critical interview IB次元官网网址檝e found with her, she asserts aboriginal rights without any effort to contact the Songhees, Esquimalt or other communities recognized as the actual holders of those rights.
Alliance Against DisplacementB次元官网网址檚 claims B.C.B次元官网网址檚 housing crisis is caused by B次元官网网址渃olonialism and capitalism.B次元官网网址� The website gives no hint of how it finances its buses, lawyers, and full-time organizers. It merely appeals for donations from those keen to help smash capitalism and disrupt private property rights.
A couple of weeks ago, an Alliance squad invaded B.C. Housing Minister Selina RobinsonB次元官网网址檚 constituency office, yelling slogans until they were arrested. Apparently RobinsonB次元官网网址檚 efforts to rush out temporary housing and catered meals for residents of their squatter camps arenB次元官网网址檛 sufficient.
I asked Premier John Horgan about this. He acknowledged that some of these squatters arenB次元官网网址檛 homeless, and said his priority is to deal with the many B次元官网网址渉ard to houseB次元官网网址� people in B.C.
I agree, helping people who demonstrate they canB次元官网网址檛 provide for themselves is an urgent problem. But thatB次元官网网址檚 not what the B.C. government is doing. Instead, theyB次元官网网址檙e rushing to these staged squats with resources, most recently with B次元官网网址渨orkforce housingB次元官网网址� to appease the mob in Nanaimo.
The housing ministry advises me that as of the end of September, there were 7,050 people on its supportive housing waiting list. Why would the squatters bother to sign up?
Municipal governments are key to this mess. Your only chance for four years to elect councillors who will stand up to the bullies is the Oct. 20 election. Candidates either get that or they donB次元官网网址檛.
Tom Fletcher is B.C. legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press. Email: tfletcher@blackpress.ca
tfletcher@blackpress.ca
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