Those left at the Millennium Park encampment on Saturday spent the day dismantling tents and moving their belonging with the help of a few volunteers.
The city had given a Sept. 9 eviction deadline to those residing at Millennium Park and said that any material remaining will be removed and permanently disposed.
Philip Fredrickson, a volunteer with UNDU (Uniting Northern Drug Users Undoing Stigma), had spent the previous three days helping people pack up and move.
The city had signed a Memorandum of Understanding, called Heart to Hearth, with the province regarding supports for the unhoused in Prince George in June, and Fredrickson said he was a part of the Heart to Hearth team.
He said he did not find out the city had planned to decamp Millennium Park until it was mentioned at a meeting he attended on Aug. 31 the same day it was publicly announced.
“Immediately everyone at the table just really realized we have work to do,” he said. “This last week, we've been trying to put together teams to come down and help but you know, back to school, back to work, everybody's really busy and we've had to have just random volunteers come down and help.”
Fredrickson said he was disappointed there was not better coordination from the city and helping residents at Millennium Park has been left up to volunteers.
He said Coun. Trudy Klassen has been the only person from the city on site helping the residents move their belongings.
The residents of the Millennium Park encampment were also served with a second eviction notice on Wednesday in Sept. 6 in the form of an evacuation order signed by Prince George fire chief Cliff Warner.
Fredrickson said the biggest challenge facing the occupants has been the stress and anxiety and confusion of the last-minute notification to evacuate.
“It’s the confusion, the misrepresentation, the lack of coordination with any kind of city workers or city officials…I mean the fact that we have a city councillor down here, helping move things, but not knowing what the actual plan was kind of speaks for itself,” said Fredrickson.
“It would have been nice to have a little interaction with some of maybe city bylaw or city outreach, or something like that but I haven't seen any of them down here in the last week at all.”
He said the second evacuation order had thrown a wrench into their work because the stress and anxiety has caused residents in active addiction to up their use because they’re self-medicating.
“The last couple days, we've been moving all of their stuff without their help, because they're just not functioning. So, it's created more of a problem for the volunteers and people helping them,” he said.
“I'm just a little frustrated with the fact that we haven't had any support from city or by law or outreach. The organizations that are in the area haven't been able to assist because their contracts and policies prevent them from coming on any encampment site. So it's been really difficult.”
He said there’s been between five and 12 volunteers helping residents move over the last week.
“I feel that we need to take responsibility for the decisions we make and the decision that we made at council has a profound impact on the people that have been making this their home the last few years, and I felt I needed to be here to help out,” said Coun. Klassen.
She said she also wanted to meet the residents and learn more about their stories and get a better sense of the circumstances they are in.
“Well, I’m new on council and so I'm not quite familiar with all the things that are at our disposal, but I'm surprised at the lack of coordination,” said Klassen, adding that there have been a lot of amazing individuals who have stepped up to help.
“Throughout the week, it sort of looked like okay, people are settling into the fact that there is no coordination, and then everybody is sort of just trying to pitch in gently and do what they can. It does speak to the fact that there was no plan.”
In an earlier interview with the Citizen, Mayor Simon Yu had confirmed a local resident donated several large container trailers to help the occupants transport and store their belongings.
He said he hoped they would have a proper plan in terms of course of action by the Sept. 9 deadline.
When asked about the city’s operational role in the decampment of Millennium Park, a statement from the City of Prince George sent to the Citizen referred back to the MOU.
“The City does not have the resources or jurisdiction to provide support services to occupants of Millennium Park,” read the statement.
The city also said it will not be issuing any comment with respect to operations on the site until it has been cleared and secured.
