By Latoya Farrell, Staff Counsel, and CRAB (Ayx) Park Community Warriors

“Everybody was welcome. We didn’t turn anyone away unless they broke the rules.” – Jessie

After leaving to pursue another career opportunity, I returned to the BCCLA in 2024. My first day involved acting as a legal observer at a decampment in Oppenheimer Park in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES). Nothing can prepare you for the brutality of a decampment. It was a heartbreaking process to watch and a devastating way to “get my feet wet,” but it eventually led me to the CRAB Park tent city.  

CRAB Park tent city was unique because it was the only place in Vancouver where people experiencing homelessness could legally shelter outdoors 24/7. I believe CRAB Park tent city remains a necessary form of harm reduction for people who rely on public space for survival. Canada is amid a housing affordability crisis, with Vancouver among the most expensive cities in the country. The ability to shelter outside is a stopgap measure for those experiencing homelessness so they can create stability, community, and consistency in their lives.

“Don’t judge. The people I was told to stay away from when I was growing up, were the only people who helped when the shit hit the fan. They are my family. There is me and there is us.” – Athena

There are many different narratives about homelessness and tent cities. Focusing on my experience with one specific tent city, I decided to write this series to provide a counter-perspective to society’s impressions about the unhoused, particularly those in the DTES. I call the former residents of CRAB Park Warriors because they are constantly battling for space, for respect, for fair treatment, and for the good of the DTES community.

I wanted to share my experiences working alongside an incredible community that has profoundly impacted my life. I have been inspired by their strength and resilience, in awe of their organization and resourcefulness, humbled by their knowledge and wisdom, and warmed by their kindness and generosity.

This is the story of the rise of CRAB Park tent city, the fight to keep it open, its subsequent closure, and the legacy of its former residents who continue to challenge oppressive laws, fight for housing rights, and create community care in Vancouver’s DTES.

A Battle Backdrop

On March 31, 2021, the Province of BC, the City of Vancouver (COV), and the Vancouver Park Board signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) recognizing that homelessness was a humanitarian crisis in Vancouver and across the region. At that time, the 2020 Homeless Count identified 2,095 people who were experiencing homelessness in the lower mainland.

The MOU was developed to formalize their commitment to take a “collaborative” and “coordinated approach to connect unsheltered residents to housing that preserves dignity for these residents, respects the need for culturally appropriate services for Indigenous people, and considers the needs of the surrounding community.” On the ground, operations conflicted with intentions due to lack of communication, failure to collaborate with people with lived experience, enforcement of oppressive bylaws, implementation of harmful policies, and a non-existent complaint mechanism.

The reality is, there is nothing dignified about decampment. It is gut-wrenching to watch people being stripped of what little possessions they own, while being treated as undesirable in spaces designed for public access. There is nothing culturally respectful about displacing unhoused Indigenous people from unceded and stolen lands or discarding their cultural items. There is nothing more frustrating than doing all this without meaningful input from the very people who are directly impacted.

2021 saw the dismantling of the Strathcona Park tent city, pushing unhoused people further into the margins of society. While some people were able to access housing, most unhoused people who relied on public space for survival were forced to find a new place to shelter. CRAB Park quickly became a haven for the unhoused in Vancouver.

“When the Parks Board closed and fenced off Strathcona Park, I packed up my things. My brother and other people were asking me where I was going. I knew I was going to CRAB Park. Initially, we were camped out by the old park house, where the bathrooms are now. Every morning, Park Rangers would come and tell us to take down our tents. They kept shuffling us around the park in different spots, before we ended up in the peninsula.” – Jessie

CRAB Park has a historical relationship with encampments. In fact, the Park’s origin story is grounded in the collective power of a tent city. In 1984, the Create a Real Available Beach activist group and 60 tents illegally occupied the area for 75 days in protest. They were trying to pressure the government to create a waterfront public park at the site for low-income residents and others. Community activism worked, and in 1987 CRAB Park at Portside was established as a Vancouver public park.

The irony of the Park Board evicting the unhoused from CRAB Park, a park birthed from a tent city protest and created to serve low-income residents, is not lost on me. For unhoused people on the DTES, sheltering in CRAB Park was more than just protest. It was survival.

“Every day was a struggle. Park Rangers came every day to tell people to take their tents down every morning. This went on for a month. Rangers would site the bylaws so they could take people’s stuff. One day, it was pouring rain. There was a tarp up by a tree to keep people dry. The Rangers came and took it down so there was no shelter.”– Fiona

The Significance of Bamberger

“Most people on the DTES have been through at least one eviction. So, evidently the current practice is not working.” – Fiona

On July 8, 2021, mere months after the MOU was signed, the General Manager of Parks and Recreation issued the first order banning overnight sheltering in CRAB Park. On September 7, 2021, access to a portion of CRAB Park was closed to “rehabilitate” the Park. This closed area included the only area within the park where overnight sheltering was allowed prior to the July 8^th order.

To understand what was so significant about the Park Board banning overnight sheltering in CRAB Park, it’s important to rewind to 2009 and the landmark case Victoria (City) v. Adams,[1] where people experiencing homelessness challenged the City of Victoria’s ban on putting up overnight shelters on public property.

The BC Court of Appeal ruled that “where there are inadequate indoor shelter spaces to accommodate persons genuinely experiencing homelessness, those persons are entitled to erect overnight shelters in public parks as a matter of their constitutional right to life, liberty, and security of the person.”[2] This meant unhoused people could put up temporary shelters overnight, but they needed to take them down during the day. The Adams case became the legal foundation for every municipal bylaw that banned daytime sheltering in BC.

Fast forward to 2022, when CRAB Park residents Kerry Bamberger, Jason Hebert, and others, banded together to challenge the General Manager of Parks and Recreation’s orders prohibiting overnight sheltering in the Park. It goes without saying that litigation takes time, effort, commitment, and an amazing pro bono lawyer. After months of Park Ranger harassment, some of the most marginalized and vulnerable people in the city used their collective power to move the needle for human rights.

The Bamberger decision recognized and fortified the procedural fairness rights of unhoused people. It acknowledged that the General Manager had a “heightened responsibility” to provide reasons for her orders that consider the consequences of her decisions and that those consequences were justified based on the facts and the law.[3]

The judge determined the General Manager had to know whether there was enough shelter space available for those sheltering in CRAB Park, to recognize that individuals sheltering at CRAB Park have specific housing needs and face unique challenges to finding suitable indoor accommodation, and was responsible for ensuring that closing a major public park in or near the DTES to overnight sheltering would not negatively affect unhoused people’s ability to access services and other facilities they need to survive.

The judge determined the General Manager’s orders failed to “achieve a proportionate balance between the [residents’] Charter rights and the stated objective of the orders.”[4] Acknowledging the housing crisis and the history of encampments on the DTES, the court further suggested that the General Manager deal with the CRAB Park encampment in a “positive and compassionate way” and use their discretion to designate an area within the park for daytime sheltering.[5]

In April 2022, the General Manager designated the CRAB Park peninsula as the new daytime sheltering area.

A New Era in Daytime Sheltering

I remember the resident meetings and talking about things affecting the park. I used to help cook French Toast for the entire camp in the morning. I miss those connections the most. When the 9 o’clock gun would go off, everyone would yell “Nine o’clock!” Everyone would be playing their music. You knew where everyone was. – Tiffany

I became involved with CRAB Park tent city in the Spring of 2024. At that time, CRAB Park Warriors had filed a BC human rights complaint against the City of Vancouver and the Park Board for discrimination based on Indigenous identity, and physical and mental disabilities, among other things. The residents alleged the COV and Park Board failed to provide basic survival services like washroom facilities, sanitation services, and sufficient access to electricity.

I first met Fiona, a housing rights advocate who had been working on the DTES for over 15 years, when she gave me a tour of the encampment. I’ll be honest, I didn’t know what to expect when I first arrived in CRAB Park. I had never been to a tent city before. I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. More than anything, I was overcome by how welcoming everyone was.

Considering all the challenges that come with living outside, CRAB Park was a flourishing ecosystem—completely community-led, functioning without any paid staff or professionals. I witnessed a high level of organization and operations that I didn’t expect.

While giving me the tour, Fiona told me there was an OPS program and an overdose prevention program funded by Vancouver Coastal Health. There was a community tent with couches, harm reduction supplies, and art where residents and visitors could come together to hang out. Residents held internal tent city meetings to discuss Park Board policies, Ranger enforcement, and future advocacy on behalf of the park. There was a kitchen where Chef Dave and other volunteers prepared meals for the residents. There was a donations tent where people could find clothes and supplies. And there were rules and guidelines governing the group.

“The City and Park Board used consultation as a check box exercise to justify doing whatever they wanted.” – Fiona

Over the course of a year or so, I frequently attended the Gazebo meetings. These were separate meetings that happened between CRAB Park residents and City and Park Board officials. This is where residents could get updates on new Park Board rules, voice concerns, and advocate for things people needed like access to sanitation and washrooms.

While I appreciated the opportunity for open dialogue, I often left these meetings incredibly frustrated by the lack of meaningful collaboration. I witnessed the CRAB Park residents voice their concerns, request assistance, express frustration, and offer to work with officials to develop a community plan. There were many requests made by the residents, with very few commitments from officials.

In March 2024, the Vancouver Park Board issued a so-called “cleanup” order that quickly escalated into a full-scale decampment, razing park residents’ shelters and fencing off the site for over a week. Leading up to the “cleanup,” residents did multiple community-led site clean-ups and offered to work with the COV and the Park Board to develop a human rights-based plan which considered the needs of those sheltering in the park. Instead of collaborating with the CRAB Park community, the City and Park Board made it clear: they were determined to dismantle everything.

Divide and Conquer

“I straight up told the Rangers, why are you trying to make homeless people more homeless?” – Larry

The cleanup came with a lot of new GM notices, including rules around who could return to the newly cleaned-up daytime sheltering area. There were fences raised around the peninsula, and many people were denied re-entry because Park Rangers determined they were not “regular residents.” The definition of being a regular resident was arbitrary and didn’t account for the realities of being unhoused.

The Park Rangers made a list of people who could return to the new daytime sheltering area without providing a clear rationale for how these determinations were made. If you didn’t regularly engage with Park Rangers or other outreach organizations, you weren’t on the list. If you didn’t sleep in the park 3 nights in a row, you lost your spot.

When residents asked how they could challenge the decision to exclude them from the new daytime sheltering area, the Park Board slapped together a woefully inadequate appeal process. Nineteen appeals were submitted. All but one appeal was declined. While some folks received housing, many residents simply lost their spot and were forced to find shelter elsewhere.

Those who moved into the newly cleaned-up designated sheltering area were given a small, parking-stall-sized space fitted with a one-person tent. These tents provided little shelter from the elements, ranging from freezing cold in the winter to roasting hot in the summer. Since the peninsula is right on the water, there was no windbreak for the tents. I remember watching Rangers fighting the wind trying to set up the tents, nearly losing one in the water in the process. Folks could not have anything outside their tent, and they could not put up tarps to shield themselves from the elements. The new kitchen, community tent, and donation tent were shadows of what they were. Everything had changed.

Eventually, there were only seven or so tents left in the peninsula. Armed with a barrage of GM notices, a crew of Rangers came every morning accompanied by several Vancouver Police Department (VPD) officers (on average 10 officials total). I couldn’t understand the need for so many Rangers and VPD officers for such a small group of people.

At a meeting with the General Manager of Parks and Recreation, I asked whether he could commit to sending fewer Rangers and VPD officers every day. Afterall there had been no incidents of violence, there were only seven tents, and despite their frustrations, residents were being cooperative. He told me he couldn’t because it was a “budget issue.” I was offering an opportunity to spend less and save taxpayers’ money. But I heard the message loud and clear—officials were not looking to collaborate with CRAB Park residents. They wanted them gone.

Park Rangers engaged in cruel and harmful behaviour. They confiscated drink coolers during a heat wave and destroyed the community garden used to grow vegetables. On two separate occasions, Park Rangers disposed of two residents’ belongings after they gave birth including baby clothes, sonogram photographs, and items essential for their survival. There was no formal oversight mechanism or complaint process.

The message was clear—divide and conquer. There seemed to be an intentional effort to make living in the new daytime sheltering area so uncomfortable that people would leave. Some left to shelter in other parks; some received housing, and some hung on until the very end. But all felt the heavy weight of surveillance, intrusion, and intimidation with no recourse.

The Impact of Closing the Designated Daytime Sheltering Area

After a long battle, the General Manager of Parks and Recreation declared he would be terminating the designated daytime sheltering area on November 7, 2024, giving residents one week to pack their things and find other living arrangements. While people could shelter in CRAB Park overnight, folks would have to take down their shelters every day—an exhausting and disruptive process.

I asked some of the former residents how they felt about the COV closing CRAB Park tent city.

Fiona reiterated the need for a designated daytime sheltering area:

“We need a place like CRAB Park. People need a place to put their things. Every two days, people lose all their stuff to harmful street sweeps or Rangers taking their things. Even when people get housing, they are usually coming in with the shirts on their back.”

Athena highlighted the difficulty of being homeless:

“Being homeless is hard—it’s not cheap, especially when the Rangers are coming every day to steal your property. But at CRAB park we took care of each other. It wasn’t perfect, but we were self-governing, we had resources, people got fed! We made it work with very little.”

Larry articulated what it meant to lose his safe place:

“What I miss most about CRAB is how we all looked after each other. Living on the streets is tough. Doing it on your own is even tougher. We regulated unwanted behavior. If someone got caught stealing or being aggressive, we dealt with them. When we were in CRAB Park, we were organized. We had donations. We had food every day. When people needed someone to watch their stuff, they would ask me. People respected me. We had a good, solid group of people. It was like a family. It’s hard not having that safe place anymore.” – Larry

Closing the designated daytime sheltering area didn’t help the homeless population in Vancouver. It merely dismantled a community, disrupted stability, and dispersed an already marginalized population. For many relying on public space for survival, the hole left by destroying CRAB Park tent city cannot be understated.

From my perspective, CRAB Park tent city was an essential service. People came together to celebrate holidays, cultural events, birthdays, and babies on the way. People had a place to gather and mourn the community members they lost. It gave so much to the folks who sheltered there. It gave folks a sense of community, a routine, a purpose, a place to rest, and a sense of safety. The park gave residents an address, somewhere they could be found, and a place to call home. Something I know I often take for granted.

Despite the closure, CRAB Park Warriors remain vigilant. They’re continuing their fight to build community care through weekly advocacy meetings, building collective power by reaching out to other tent cities, pushing for systemic change, and providing services on the DTES like the Ayx Community Bus.

CRAB Park’s connection to BCCLA’s Daytime Sheltering Test Case

On January 30, 2025, BCCLA alongside plaintiffs Jason, and former residents of CRAB Park, Zee and Brittany, filed a lawsuit against the COV challenging Vancouver Bylaws banning unhoused people from sheltering outdoors during the daytime.

Building on cases like Adams and Bamberger, BCCLA and the plaintiffs argue the ban is cruel, dehumanizing, and deadly. These oppressive and disruptive bylaws violate section 7 (life, liberty, and security of the person), section 12 (protection against cruel and unusual treatment or punishment) and section 15 (equality rights) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. BCCLA is grateful for the relationship with CRAB Park tent city and the continued engagement and contributions of the unhoused and precariously housed community living on the DTES.

Stay tuned for the second installment of CRAB Park Warriors: Fighting FIFA and Advocating for Human Rights.

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[1] 2009 BCCA 563.

[2] Bamberger v Vancouver (Board of Parks and Recreation), 2022 BCSC 49 (CanLII), at para 4.

[3] Bamberger v Vancouver (Board of Parks and Recreation), 2022 BCSC 49 (CanLII), at para 149.

[4] Bamberger v Vancouver (Board of Parks and Recreation), 2022 BCSC 49 (CanLII), at para 150.

[5] Bamberger v Vancouver (Board of Parks and Recreation), 2022 BCSC 49 (CanLII), at para 195.