The latest round of tent-city antics has brought the machinations of evicting vagrants into the spotlight. Evicting squatters from a public park is a fairly straightforward legal process if everybody does their job properly, but as recent events have again showed us, many public officials don鈥檛 have the spine to do their jobs properly. We must take the onus off them.
One of Victoria鈥檚 most delightful areas is Fisherman鈥檚 Wharf. The wharf offers respite from the cardboard signs and methadone mutterings of the unhousable. The reason? It鈥檚 private property. On private property, the Trespass Act is easily enforced by police.
The wharf is private property because it is not owned by the City of Victoria; it is owned by the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority.
The authority is a non-profit society, a special type of private corporation. As such, its holdings are private property and a simple standing agreement gives the police the authority to do their jobs and make life inconvenient for bums and drug addicts.
I think that winding off much of Victoria鈥檚 park system into a similar not-for-profit society would be greatly beneficial to all. The affected parks would then be private property, and keeping them clear of vagrants would be simple.
Leaving some parks as public spaces would allow the city to control where the dregs could congregate. The city could still maintain the parks and all the rules could stay the same, but the rules would actually be enforced. Make it so.
Bryan Tronsgard
Victoria
