City Appeals Homeless Ruling

The City of Abbotsford has given notice through its lawyers that it intends to appeal the decision by BC Supreme Court chief justice Christopher Hinkson that the case against the City of Abbotsford brought by Pivot Legal Society on behalf of the Abbotsford Chapter of the BC/Yukon Drug War Survivors (DWS) can go ahead.

This means any decision in the case is now further delayed and the men and women at the Gladys Avenue DWS ‘DCC Dignity Village’ protest camp will likely spend the winter on the side of the road.

The Chief Justice had ruled ruled that the DWS can stand in and represent the named and unnamed members of the homeless community in Abbotsford who would be put through extreme hardship if they were forced to make regular trips from Abbotsford to the Supreme Court in Abbotsford during what is expected to be a long and drawn out case which may go to the Supreme Court of Canada.

In its notice of appeal the City asks that the Chief Justice’s decision be set aside.

A copy of the Notice of Appeal is available in PDF format below.

Last week the DWS protestetrs attempted to use their own pre-fab housing materials to provide themselves with better shelter against the elements during the cold and the snow but the City moved in with a police escort to dismantle the small, 10′ x 10′ shelters they had built and confiscate the rest of their building materials.

Abbotsford NOTICE OF APPEAL