Submitted. – The peaceful protest by members of the Abbotsford Chapter of the BC/Yukon Drug War Survivors (DWS) continues on Gladys Avenue opposite the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) construction site, since its forcible eviction from Jubilee Park during the Jubilee Park Exodus on Christmas Eve.
“We will only be moved by a court order,” says Barry Shantz, head of the Abbotsford DWS.
Barry Shantz. Bas Stevens Photo
“Mayor Bruce Banman admitted in the Abbotsford News that the City had learned from the Jubilee Park Exodus how to do the job properly.”
“We are now located across from the MCC and, with, absolutely no indication of any willingness to discuss our situation or our proposal, we have come to the conclusion that the City has no intention of moving forward in any positive manner to resolve homelessness for our members,” adds Shantz.
“If the City wants an MCC Exodus we are fully prepared to move all over again.”
Pivot Legal Society, which is representing members of the DWS in a number of civil law suits and human rights cases, will be in court Friday with the City of Abbotsford lawyers to continue the education of the City of Abbotsford on subjects of civil liberties, human rights and constitutional law.
DWS Teepee at MCC Dignity Village on Gladys Avenue. JD Archer photo.
“Whatever is meant by Mayor Banman’s statement that he has instructed City staff to come up with a homeless strategy, we have a long history of being abandoned and left out of every single solution this community has ever contrived.”
“If the City of Abbotsford wants to continue to ignore the scientific and legal evidence which shows that housing is the first step in helping our members, and is only prepared to deal with us in the courts and with the help of its police and bylaw officers, we are more than prepared to let this circus continue,” says Shantz.
“The city is holding this process in stalemate and ignoring repeated requests to meet and discuss our proposal for sustainable housing.”
“The harassment, theft, abuse and ongoing campaign to exterminate and cleanse this city of its most disadvantaged and disrespected citizens, is more than a public embarrassment. It is a vicious and unspeakable wrong for which those public officials responsible for its orchestration and delivery will have to atone,” he added.
It has been made very clear to us that the City of Abbotsford intends to continue to fight homelessness in the courts.
As long as we are stuck in this endless Abbotsford Shuffle we have no option but to keep going down this road together.
Release from the Abbotsford Chapter of the BC/Yukon Drug War Survivors
The people of the Teepee who were shuffled out of Jubilee Park have been living since Christmas Eve across from the Mennonite Central Committee’s building on Gladys Avenue. Photo JD Archer