Image: City of Abbotsford / An undated photo of fences surrounding an encampment at Abbotsford City Hall. Several people are living at the site and have previously received trespass notices, requiring them to leave the site.

By Don Mitchell

Abbotsford encampment

Abbotsford confirm appeal of court order requiring services for City Hall encampment occupants

Nov 22, 2024 | 9:04 AM

ABBOTSFORD – The City of Abbotsford has confirmed it is appealing a court decision that orders the municipality to provide services to residents of an encampment at City Hall.

In a post on the city website Thursday night, council stated that they are seeking the Supreme Court of BC to remove conditions imposed after the city won a ruling allowing them to remove the encampment.

Councillors insist that the services—such as housing options, harm reduction services, and mental health assessments—are the responsibility of the provincial government, not the city.

“All of these services are provided in BC by the provincial government through agencies such as Fraser Health and BC Housing, not by municipal staff,” the city stated.

“The residents of Abbotsford pay taxes to the provincial and federal governments—not to the city—for the provision of these services.”

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In October, Justice Sandra Sukstorf denied an injunction filed by the Matsqui Abbotsford Impact Society (on behalf of the Drug War Survivors) to prevent the removal of the encampment.

Sukstorf called for a ‘phased approach’ to reducing the number of tents on the site, ordering the city to provide services to occupants during the removals.

City officials insist that they have worked with outreach partners in recent months on such services but have encountered roadblocks, with several individuals refusing what has been offered.

On Tuesday, police and bylaw officers installed fencing, reportedly to deter the installation of new tents after many were removed.

Ten people were also forced to leave the site after city officials deemed them ‘new occupants’ who had arrived after Sukstorf’s decision.

Since June, roughly 60 people have been living in the encampment behind Abbotsford City Hall.

Most of the occupants arrived after two summer relocations involving 50 individuals who had been living in camps at Gladys and Babich Parks.

In September, Abbotsford Drug War Survivors program coordinator Brittany Maple, who is working as a liaison for the encampment residents, insisted the city “hasn’t offered any reasonable solution” to the homelessness issue and that the shelter beds offered through BC Housing don’t meet individual needs.

City spokesperson Melissa Godbout previously said they “continually offer” shelter to individuals in the encampment.