Homeless camps remain entrenched in Chilliwack River Valley

Except it’ll never get touched so long as it’s attached to an occupied homeless encampment. Abandoned homeless camps are eligible for cleanup remediation efforts.

Aikenhead said a lone female resident resides there at this camp near Thurston Meadows. There are household items, likely stolen items, and a toxic burn pile contained within the encampment.

“They’re taking water out of the man-made spawning channel, and all the toxins from the fire are going straight into the salmon habitat,” Aikenhead said. “They suck water out of one end and dump their sewage into the other end. I’ve reported the camp across from Thurston Meadows a couple times to the RCMP. I’m sure that’s where metal is going.”

Farther up the Chilliwack Lake Road corridor heading east are at least 3-4 more homeless encampments that are occupied. After motorists cross Borden Creek, there’s a single trailer inhabited by a man who has been there for years. It’s one of the cleaner ones, Aikenhead says.

However, the next encampment heading east after that is hidden from Chilliwack Lake Road and is inundated with garbage galore.

“There are 2-3 RVs, an abandoned car, a couple small structures, and garbage,” Aikenhead said. “People have been in there for years. It’s occupied. None of these will get touched. They’ve had junkies and thieves in this one. I’ll try to talk to the people there, but I have no authority to do anything.”

Image: Mike Vanden Bosch / Pattison Media / A homeless camp in the Chilliwack River Valley.

A long-term male resident has established a long-term presence at another encampment farther up the road; he owns just the trailer, but there is a motorhome belonging to another couple. Across the road there is an encampment cut into the bush which now holds three more trailers/motorhomes.

Another encampment located on Chilliwack South Forest Service Road, as Aikenhead calls it, contains two trailers, including a fancier, higher-end trailer.

“By Riverside Campground, the site is clean; the people have built themselves a huge covered picnic area and a structure, which is illegal, too,” Aikenhead said. “They’ve been there for at least six years.”

There is a reported encampment on Liumchen Forest Service Road accessible through Cultus Lake, though Aikenhead says he doesn’t recommend that people try to find it in the backcountry bush.

“It’s kind of a maze in there,” Aikenhead told a reporter. “I wouldn’t recommend you go looking for it.”

On top of all these, there are reportedly homeless encampments and settlements on Soowahlie First Nation land behind the On The Way store on Chilliwack Lake Road.

The homeless encampment stakeholder group typically includes a representative from the RCMP, Chilliwack Restorative Justice, Fraser Valley Regional District, Salvation Army, Fraser Health Integrated Homeless Action Response Team, Soowahlie First Nation, FVRD Electoral Area E, Ann Davis Outreach, Natural Resources (provincial agency), B.C. Housing, Ministry of Forests, Chilliwack Tourism, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada (federal).

Upper Fraser Valley Regional Detachment RCMP Superintendent Davy Lee referenced this homeless encampment working group at a Chilliwack city council meeting on Tuesday, April 19. Supt. Lee says the group, formally known as the Chilliwack River Valley Homeless Encampment Stakeholders Working Group, is trying to address the ongoing homeless issue.

“The collaborative interagency approach of the Chilliwack River Valley Homeless Encampment Stakeholders Working Group continues to address the environmental, public safety and social welfare concerns in the Chilliwack River Valley,” Supt Lee said back in April 2023. “The recent announcement of $200,000 in new funding to the FVRD’s rural cleanup effort is a step in the right direction. We will continue to collaborate with stakeholders to find long-term solutions to this ongoing issue.”

The working group’s stated purpose is “to work collaboratively to provide supports to those experiencing homelessness and solutions to address the safety and environmental risks associated with homeless encampments in the Chilliwack River Valley.”

Like he has stated before, Aikenhead maintains that it’s simply a matter of enforcing existing laws as it relates to squatters on Crown or Indigenous land.

“All the sewage and garbage from these camps is going straight into the environment, and all the camps are illegal,” Aikenhead said. “As long as it’s allowed to continue, the problem will just keep getting worse. All the camps are illegally occupying Crown land, or Indigenous land, and need to be dealt with accordingly but no one wants to take responsibility for enforcing the laws. The whole situation is just an example of how disorganized the government agencies are.”

by Mike Vanden Bosch

Homeless camps remain entrenched in Chilliwack River Valley

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