VIDEO: City of Regina ‘decommissions’ encampment, fire chief to comment later

There were cries of “Give us more time!” as the City of Regina began dismantling the encampment in Core Community Park on Tuesday.

Firefighters and police officers were in attendance as the tents were taken down, and the debris in the Heritage neighbourhood park became apparent.

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But for those living in the encampment, like Shaun Koch, that is of little help.

“When you have people yelling, we need more time, well, these are people’s possessions, mine included. I live here. That’s my tent over there. My stuff’s in there. I need time to move that stuff out. They want us to leave and go where? Where are people supposed to go? I’m lucky. I live privileged, houseless. There are a few couches I can crash on tonight. I’ll be okay. I’m not worried about me. I’m worried about my family and my friends and the relatives and the brothers and sisters that are here. And I don’t understand how people can just be so inhumane about it. I don’t understand,” Koch told reporters.

The action taken on Tuesday was different from the stance taken earlier by city officials.

In November, city council approved an outreach-based approach after previous encampments were dismantled. Regina Police Service Chief Lorilee Davies described it as a “person-centric” approach.

Councillor Shannon Zachidniack rushed to the encampment when she learned of the decommissioning.

“All I can see in terms of what I can do right now is try and make sure that there is a plan to get folks safe places for tonight. There’s a snowstorm coming. I guess it’s kind of already started, and that is my main concern because it doesn’t feel like there is a clear plan to ensure that folks have a safe place tonight,” Zachidniak said.

“It does not feel that there was a lot of conversation in terms of having a coordinated plan walking into this. So I think folks are doing their best and trying to scramble to figure out where folks should safely go for tonight. And I am well aware that housing is a provincial responsibility, and that is a concern, and that is something that needs to be addressed in a more systematic way by the province.”

Mandla Mthembu is one of the community organizers trying to help those who call the encampment home. He maintained it was a decision made by the Regina fire department.

“Fire has made the call that there’s an imminent risk, and that’s why the shutdown’s happening. But now it’s up to the city to work out a deal that is fair to folks here. I think there were a couple of fires over the weekend, and I think someone was hospitalized last night with an injury. So that’s the reason they’re giving,” Mthembu explained.

“I think an important thing to recognize here is that this kind of imminent risk we were talking about is not confined to the park here. The problem is that people don’t have housing, and the problem is that people are living in abject poverty. A lot of things happen when you live outside for a long time, like getting sick, developing arthritis and things like that from not sleeping properly and not having adequate care for yourself. So I think that’s an important thing to think of the imminent risk that’s talked about is not going to be removed by forcibly removing people out of their tents with no notice, and then not having good supports lined up for them after they’re going to a hotel or talking to social services after they get removed from the camp.

City of Regina fire chief Layne Jackson is due to speak to reporters at 3 p.m. to explain why the camp had to be dismantled.