City of Maple Ridge moves against homeless camp

RCMP and Maple Ridge bylaw enforcement officersmoved in Thursday morning to dismantle a homeless camp in the city's downtown area.

Officers took apart fourtents, packed up possessions and loaded the items onto the back of city trucks.

"They took everything and threwit around like it was garbage. They took everything I have." said a camp resident named Merle.

• Maple Ridge protesters erect illegal camp to protest loss of shelter

Maple Ridge's Chief Administrative Officer Ted Swabey says the city is working on getting an injunction to end the camp, which he said is illegal.

Swabey saidthe fence and tents were taken down for the safety of the residents.

"The bylaw doesn't permit the use as the campers are aware of thepropertyasthey arecurrentlyusing it," he said. "The goal was to ensure the safety of the residents of the campand that there's access for any medical services."

'Panicked' scene

Ivan Drury, a homeless advocate,said the scene was chaotic.

"People are apoplectic, they're upset, they're panicked ... and they have no idea where they'll go," said Druryof the Alliance Against Displacement, which organized the camp.

It was set up May 2 to protestthe closingofMaple Ridge's Rain City shelter at the end of the month.

That shelter on the Lougheed Highway has housed dozens of people for about 18 months.

It was supposed to be a temporary six-month measure until the city firmed up plans for building a proper shelter, but protesters say those plans have dissolved.

Drury said camp residents managed to retrieve some of their belongings from officers Thursday.

"We managed to jump on the truck and unload it before they could drive it off. They said 'Stop it' and I shouted back 'You're going to have to arrest me' and they didn't do anything."

By Thursday afternoon the camp was already erected again.

"The big struggle now is just dealing with the weather," Drury said. "They chose a pouring rain day to do this so we are trying to get the tarps and tents back up and get dry."