I would like to take a moment to briefly update people on the potential threat of eviction for Occupy Quebec and Occupy Vancouver. First let’s start with Occupy Quebec City.
Occupy Quebec City:
Occupy Quebec — ongoing since the Occupy Canada demonstrations began on Saturday October 15, 2011 — was red-flagged by city officials over fire safety concerns at the site, as the camp is mostly made up of tents and other structures built of wood and tarp. The Occupy Quebec site currently located at the Place de l’Universite du Quebec in the Saint-Roche district of Quebec City.
Quebec City had demanded earlier this week that the Occupy demonstration site be dismantled after a small fire broke out, prompting municipal safety inspectors to tour the area and declare the Occupy tents and structures a public danger. City officials were also notified that they could be held legally responsible if the encampment is permitted to remain and an emergency did occur.
The eviction deadline of Thursday, November 3, 2011, came and went without a formal eviction occurring at the site. Representatives of the Quebec City fire department did a walk-through of the Occupy site and removed a few tarps and pieces of wood.
In a message from Occupy Quebec to the city via Twitter at the Thursday deadline: “#OccupyQuebec has addressed the city’s safety concerns & removed all fire hazards. Any eviction now will need a new pretext.”
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Occupy Vancouver:
In Vancouver, B.C., mayor Gregor Robertson has made it clear through the media that he wants to see Occupy Vancouver — located on the lawn of the Vancouver Art Gallery — shut down but has yet to issue a firm deadline.
It has become somewhat of an election issue for the current mayor and during an October 25, 2011, all candidates debate, said he hoped there could be a peaceful resolution to the demonstration. He said, “It is your right to protest. It is not your right to have an encampment in our downtown.” Rumours in Vancouver are that the policing cost for the occupy site have exceeded $500,000.
Efforts to have Occupy Vancouver evicted escalated on Thursday, November 3, 2011 after emergency medical personnel had difficulty reaching the location of the man who needed medical attention at his tent on the site.
Due to, among other issues, the physical layout of the tents, Vancouver fire Chief John McKearney told the media that the fire department concluded public safety was at risk and delivered a set of safety related ultimatums to the activists camped out there.
The issues listed in the ultimatums – requests to take down unoccupied tents, overhead tarps and rain canopies — were to be resolved by 10:00 a.m. on Friday November 4, 2011, or city officials would enter the Occupy site and correct the safety violations themselves.
City officials say their recommendations will make more room between the tents in the case of emergency. There are currently more than 100 tents at the Occupy Vancouver site at the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Despite these safety issues, no eviction firm date has been announced for site.
During a city council meeting on Tuesday, November 1, 2011, city manager Penny Ballem announced that in regards to any potential action to evict Occupy Vancouver, it cannot simply do so unless the city can prove before the courts that the Occupy demonstration is creating severe health, safety, property damage or criminal-behaviour problems.
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In other Occupy Vancouver news, occupy site members were shocked and saddened to learn that a woman in her 20s was found unresponsive insider her tent at 4:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon. Vancouver police later confirmed she died. Although the cause of death has not been released, speculation is that she died of an overdose. Her name has not been released.
Grief councillors are on site for anyone who needs assistance. For update, please log on to the Occupy Vancouver livestream where people are available to chat. This death occurs just days after another Occupy Vancouver resident was revived after an overdose on location.
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