Vehicle Residents of Squamish

Thank you for visiting the home for the Vehicle Residents of Squamish (VRS) advocacy group. 

For a brief background, the VRS is an advocacy group that represents a diverse range of people who live in vehicles in Squamish, no matter their reasons. We first formed in 2019 to combat the no-camping bylaws that outlaws sleeping in a vehicle within the District of Squamish, which was passed in full in 2021 despite much opposition. 

As research and District documents show, these punitive policies are premised on the notion that the unhoused population undermine the rules governing the use of public space and are deviant and a threat to the housed community in terms of safety, public image and the environment. 

However, we believe that the no-camping bylaws are an all-lose situation because they do not resolve the underlying tensions and, instead, perpetuate and legitimize the stigma against unhoused peoples, while marginalizing, discriminating and reinforcing inequalities that are often based on race and class. 

Through a human rights approach, we advocate for inclusive policies for vehicle residents that emphasize diversity, human dignity, belonging, individual behaviour, accountability and responsibility to everyone in the community

LETTER CAMPAIGN  

Having a safe and secure place to sleep is a basic human right. This right AND the right to housing (and to choose one’s housing and/or how one handles a housing crisis) is something that the District of Squamish has FAILED to protect.

Meanwhile, vehicle residents are stigmatized, surveilled and marginalized by the bylaw. Their safety is threatened by aggressive people out to “kick in the heads of any campers found in their backyard”. (See Squamish rock climbing post). They've been threatened, driven past aggressively at night, kicked out, towed or woken up by leaf blowers at Walmart. 

Treating people like this is unacceptable. Many of these people live and work in Squamish, while others have come to enjoy its natural environment. Some have been evicted from their housing, can’t find housing and others have exceed the max stays at the overrun campgrounds. No one is here to be targets of unjust laws, stigma, or the aggression of locals. This is immoral and wrong.

The District must accept that there is diversity in people and situations, which means that there is diversity in housing! Follow the link for the Vehicle Residents of Squamish most recent call to action. 

We want to hear how the bylaw has personally impacted you! 

The VRS is looking for testimonials from local and visiting vehicle residents who have been impacted by the suite of bylaws that outlaw sleeping in a vehicle on public property within the District of Squamish. 


We ask that testimonials include the emotional, mental, physical and social impacts that the bylaw has had on you. Please be specific, honest and open. The more personal details that you include, the more we have to work with. All emails are confidential! 


Some questions to consider:



Please include any other information that you think may be relevant. 


Testimonials can be emailed here:



If you would like to follow through with a more detailed interview, please mention that in your response and we can get back to you.


Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and experiences!

October 11th, 2022. Inclusive Policy for Vehicle Residents IS an Election Issue!


We have raised the important issue of inclusive policy for vehicle residents to the prospective candidates in the upcoming election. Feel free to take some of these ideas and contact them yourself. You can find their contact information here: https://www.hereforsquamish.com/ 


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Dear current and possible future members of council,


We are writing to bring attention to an election issue, specifically the bylaws associated with the “Visitor and Management Camping Plan” that is negatively impacting many Squamish locals and visitors. In the past three years, the DoS has received close to 300 letters and a petition with over 4000 signatures that support inclusive solutions for responsible vehicle residents (ie. “paid permit system” and “safe lots”). Despite this, the final decision resulted in a blanket ban on sleeping in a vehicle on public land within District boundaries. These punitive bylaws represent an unbalanced scale of justice. Politicians are supposed to represent all sides.  


Many of your platforms advocate for: diversity, inclusion, affordability, diversity in housing, and “protecting the core social, cultural, recreational and environmental amenities”. Yet, these discriminatory and punitive bylaws represent the opposite of these platforms. It also does not honor the “hardwired for adventure” culture and spirit of Squamish. On the contrary, these bylaws subject vehicle residents and the un-housed to regulation and are attacks to their autonomy and self-determination. 


Sharing the approach of Indigenous philosophy, professor Dr. Leroy Little Bear contends that differences in worldviews are at the heart of social control and result in oppression, discrimination, and the denial of harmony and diversity. Research shows that the unhoused and vehicle resident population often experience environments of social exclusion which assist the cultural narratives (i.e., the unhoused are dangerous or unworthy). This in turn, drives bylaws that work to displace the un-housed from public spaces, and result in increased mental and physical stress, sleep deprivation, surveillance, and displacement. It prevents them from maintaining community and accessing secure and safe living spaces. Vehicle residents are forced into hiding and risking a ticket, out of town, and/or those who can afford and want a campground must compete with tourists for sites, which have (enforced) annual 14 day max stays. 


Vehicle residents are a diverse group and deserve to not be discriminated against, harassed, or punished for living differently, for preferring the privacy of their own vehicle dwelling to a shelter or conventional housing, and/or for their socio-economic status -- be poor or wealthy. Like all humans, they deserve privacy, the right to a good night's sleep, and to feel safe in one's home without fear of getting “the knock” from bylaw. No one should be forced to live in a way that doesn’t align with their values, be it pushed into a campground, shelter, or housing. This stigma-driven bylaw strips vehicle residents and the unhoused of their security, privacy, and dignity. 


Although bylaw 2829 is in line with current legal precedent in B.C., according to Pivot Legal and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, this precedent offers a very low standard of protection. For example, it fails to protect those in vehicles, it forces daily relocation that can cause mentally and physical stress, and where “homeless” people can put a tent is severely limited with sections 4.1 a - x. 


We need to be challenging these discriminatory laws and law enforcement practices that violate human rights, perpetuate stigma, and that treat the un-housed as criminals. Evidence-based social policy and domestic and international human rights law have many social rights advocates arguing that emergency programs such as shelters and punitive bylaws that target the un-housed do not work. As per s. 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the fundamental freedoms enshrined are intended to create and protect spaces where one can be free from government interference. In accordance with human rights and values of social inclusion, s. 7 of the Charter provides support for the implementation of inclusive policies through the principle of participation, while s. 15 supports equality. Individual dignity, security, and autonomy must be protected. Squamish can and must do better.

 

The District of Squamish has promised “recommendations for sustainable policy options for vehicle residents” since 2019. Yet, John French made it clear in a recent CBC article that the District has no plans to open more campgrounds or create inclusive policy for vehicle residents. Instead of working to promote inclusion, diversity, and Leave No Trace education, in 2022, the district budgeted $174,600 towards policing: Community Patrol Officers and a Visitor Management Coordinator who work to “educate” and enforce these punitive bylaws. Meanwhile, our request for a stigma audit was dismissed. Pivot Legal Society recommends that governments perform regular stigma audits to help to recognize where stigma influences law and policy and reframes discussions in order to create inclusive policies that promote health and safety. We request that this be brought back to the table. We argue that this bylaw is not about garbage, which is the fault of tourists and locals. It is about land grabs, real estate, property values, classism, culture, gentrification, economics, and enforcing western high-consumption lifestyles. 


Regardless of one's views on the unhoused, they are not going away. Dr. Leroy Little Bear encourages challenging the deep-rooted assumptions about what life and reality are all about so we can learn to appreciate an alternative way of thinking and behaving. This can look like divesting from the classic punitive and exclusionary “no camping” policy and investing in win-win inclusive options such as a permit system, where vehicle residents pay a nominal fee so they can legally roam on public land, as well as “safe lots” for those who want more stability, access to facilities, and supportive services if needed. These residents would operate under a “code of conduct” that emphasizes individual behaviour, accountability, and responsibility to the community and environment, while creating a society where everyone belongs. In situations where people are “othered,” such as the unhoused population, the “other” could be viewed as someone resilient and self-determining in their own world. Instead of perpetuating inequalities and injustice through punitive bylaws, society can strive to make space for them and recognize the diversity of worldviews and situations.


Given this and the vast amount of support for inclusive policy for vehicle residents shown these past years, why should we vote for you in this coming election? Do you have any intention of creating and supporting inclusive policies for vehicle residents and doing better than last council? If so, how? Are you an advocate for the un-housed and a truly diverse and inclusive society? 


We realize this is a long email but given the importance of the issue and that many of you do not know the full story, it is important to provide detail. Thank you for reading to the end and best of luck in the election!



Sincerely, 


Thomasina Pidgeon, Rufio West, Dr. Leanne Roderick

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Co-Directors, Vehicle Residents of Squamish

July 4, 2021 quick update

We have been doing a lot this past year, but have not been doing well at maintaining the website - apologies. Folks on the email list and especially our facebook page have been receiving more update, so please check in there.

July 15, 2020 URGENT update RE: Camping Bylaw

We have received word that the district of Squamish plans on amending the bylaw to ban camping in the entire district - the very plan that was rejected a year ago.

Our open letter is here: http://shorturl.at/lsLV4

Please sign & share with members of the Squamish community urgently because we need to submit it to council by Friday July 17.

March 29, 2020 COVID-19 update

We have a few helpful pieces of information regarding resources available to you at this time:

https://mailchi.mp/e5b546cc1a26/jan-31-2020-update-12271398

January 31, 2020 update

We are still working behind the scenes! The funding for any consultation work regarding comprehensive solutions for residents (i.e. Safe Lots, Permits, etc) is hopefully being released early February. We will keep you updated with what consultations will look like when it becomes clear.

In the meantime, we are starting conversations with Squamish nation, as well as with politicians on the provincial level. We hope you're having a good winter - be it in Squamish, or on the road somewhere else!

July 26, 2019 update

The Bylaw was formally adopted into law on July 23. For more information, please visit our "Camping Bylaw" page.

The following email was sent to our mailing list subscribers: https://mailchi.mp/34fda049c3e7/camping-bylaw-becomes-law

July 15, 2019 update

Tomorrow the bylaw goes to council tomorrow for readings 2&3. In response, the VRS has sent the following:

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Dear Mayor Elliott, and members of the District of Squamish municipal council,


I am writing on behalf of the Vehicle Residents of Squamish in preparation for readings 2&3 of bylaw 2679 (the “camping bylaw”). I would first like to commend the district and their staff for their commitment in working with us towards an amenable solution to the bylaw for all residents of Squamish. The bylaw has seen major changes in an attempt to find a middle ground that tackles the problems our community faces with problematic camping practices. It has become apparent that without long-term community solutions like permits, safe lots, or other comprehensive solutions, the bylaw cannot be as geographically broad, hence the reduction in geographic scope between first reading and now. 

The VRS has two concerns with the bylaw as-is, as well as a proposal for a potential solution that we request to be considered as part of the passing of the bylaw. In initial consultations with District staff the idea of seasonal closure of the Mamquam Forest Service Road was discussed (instead of full-year), and was seemingly considered by staff to be a reasonable item. Unfortunately, that aspect was missed in preparation for the Committee of the Whole meeting. It is my understanding that because staff was given direction to proceed as it was written with certain other directed changes at the COW meeting, it then became outside bureaucratic procedure to add the seasonal aspect. The VRS would still like to see the bylaw affected areas of the Mamquam Forest Service Road to only be effective June 1 - September 30 because the narrative around the bylaw has been about the impacts of visitors during the busy season.

The second concern we have is the extension of the bylaw affected area to include crown land parcels on Powerhouse Springs Rd. The owner of the proposed Squamish Canyon spoke at the COW meeting with a legitimate concern around fires. We support the banning of fires to mitigate fire risks, but wish to see these small parcels still available. These crown parcels are close to an outhouse, and are away from a neighbourhood interface.

The final and most important part of this letter is a proposal, found attached as a PDF. This proposal wishes to mitigate the risk of the bylaw displacing people from the bylaw’s banned locations into the open and into other undesirable locations. The proposed pilot project is designed to be easy to organize and administer so that it can be enacted quickly, thus minimizing negative outcomes from the implementation of the bylaw. It is important to note that the proposed pilot project is only a stop-gap solution on the road to comprehensive long-term solutions that we expect will be well underway before next summer’s busy season through council’s guidance. The bylaw conversation has come a long way with positive work done by everyone involved, and we think that making this proposal a part of the bylaw process is another important step.


In the event that the 10.6 MB PDF is too large for your email server, the following link can be used to download the file directly:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Y4Kw4EImmg0QqixdX0tIfbib3xmxlQwf/view?usp=sharing


June 24, 2019 update

A new version of Bylaw 2679 is being brought to the Committee of the Whole meeting June 26, 2019. From there, they will receive comment, then make any additional changes before bringing it to council for both 2nd and 3rd readings of the bylaw at the next council meeting.

The Vehicle Residents of Squamish (VRS) Advocacy Group has had several consultation meetings with the District of Squamish since the camping bylaw passed first reading. The VRS would like to commend the District of Squamish Staff and Council for taking a collaborative approach to addressing the unique concerns of our diverse community. 

In an effort to balance the need for an enforcement tool to address problematic ‘camping’ behaviours and the security of long-term vehicle residents, the District has offered to narrow the scope of the bylaw. The District has also acknowledged that long-term community solutions for Squamish’s vehicle residents urgently need to be developed. 

Due to this level of positive collaboration, and the recognised need to address seasonal camping impacts this coming summer season, the VRS would like to express support for the camping bylaw in its current form. 

The VRS is a strong proponent of environmental protection and supports the District having an enforcement tool to protect our environment, and the ability to address impacts from poor ‘camping’ behaviours. We are cautiously optimistic about this bylaw, as we recognize that it may displace problematic behaviours to areas outside of the enforcement boundaries. We encourage the District to take a proactive, positive approach to communicating with Squamish’s seasonal visitors in conjunction with this bylaw, and we also look forward to continuing work with the District of Squamish to develop solutions (i.e. permits/safe lots) for Squamish’s vehicle residents.

June 2, 2019 Update

Click HERE for a copy of the email update sent to mailing list subscribers

May 12, 2019

The District of Squamish has proposed bylaw No. 2679, which will affect everybody that sleeps in a vehicle within the district upon passing council. The VRS has an initial meeting scheduled for May 14, 2019 to discuss the bylaw with the Natasha Golbeck, the lead bureaucrat working on the bylaw. 


An independent petition has been started by Thomasina Pidgeon which can be found HERE. *This is not the same as the survey*