The authorities called it a compassionate approach, but for Sean McKenzie, being told to pack up his home and move was just another kick in the teeth from a system that simply doesn’t care.
McKenzie was one of an estimated 20 homeless campers, living in what looked to be 10 makeshift tents, told by Victoria police and City of Victoria bylaw officers Friday morning to clear out from land behind Victoria High School.
The land is about to be prepared for a 158-unit housing project.
McKenzie, 54, who has been homeless for four years, has been living under a blue tarp on a small patch of grass just off Grant Street for the last four months.
He said Friday that he had no intention of moving until he is offered a viable alternative — and he’s not holding his breath for that.
McKenzie has developed a distrust of outreach services over the last four years, claiming he was “screwed around” by B.C. Housing for more than two years when he was told they were trying to find him suitable accommodation.
He said they technically considered him “housed” because he was in a temporary shelter, so they never bothered to find him a suitable longer-term home. So he ended up on the street again.
“I’m born and raised in this province, paid taxes here and now here I am an old fart, alcoholic, drug addict with multiple health issues and addiction issues and no one cares that this is where I’m going to die,” he said. “We don’t have faces, we don’t have names.”
McKenzie said he and his fellow campers seem to be just another problem to shuffle onto another neighbourhood.
The site McKenzie currently calls home is about to be redeveloped by the Capital Region Housing Corporation into the Caledonia project, 158 housing units in three townhouse buildings and two apartment buildings spread over nine properties between Gladstone Avenue and Grant Street to the west of Vic High.
The properties used for the project were assembled through a land-exchange agreement between the city, B.C. Housing and the Greater Victoria School District, which will own the consolidated land parcel and lease it to the housing corporation.
Lisa McPhail, communications manager for the school district, said the district is aware people are sheltering on the site.
She said city bylaw and outreach teams met with the campers this week to inform them that the land is set to become a construction site, with fencing going up next week.
McPhail said those living on the property have been offered housing assistance, and outreach teams are taking a “compassionate approach” to support anyone who doesn’t have housing.
City spokesman Bill Eisenhauer said bylaw officers were at the site Friday and will continue to be there daily, working with partner agencies to “support people to come into compliance.”
Victoria police were also on the site Friday morning to keep the peace, assist bylaw officers and help connect people with resources, said spokesman Cam MacIntyre. The resources in question were shelters listed on a two-page document being handed out to campers.
Homeless advocate Elizabeth Trayner said the list isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. Trayner, who is not homeless but was visiting some of the campers Friday, said she comes to the site to help, to listen and at times to lend her voice to a community that often isn’t heard.
She said the list of shelters is outdated — in many cases, the available beds have been claimed and there is often a lengthy process to get into the places.
“So, in the meantime where do people go?” she asked. “These are just people who wanted to get away from the downtown core of the city.”
Trayner said a lot has been made of the amount of resources and services available for the homeless, but given the restrictions on who can access them and the high demand, in reality there is precious little.
“It’s not easy and the resources aren’t what people think,” she said.
McKenzie was planning to wait out the imminent development and expects if he’s still there when the fencing comes to cordon off the site, he will be arrested for trespassing.
“They make a point of telling me I’m trespassing every time they see me,” he said.
