Dec 21, 2023
No start date yet for removal of eight central Edmonton homeless camps
With no date yet set to begin the teardown of eight homeless encampments in central Edmonton, social agencies are working to open new emergency shelter spaces in different areas of the city.
On Monday, an Edmonton judge made an interim injunction order that allows police to proceed with removing tents and makeshift structures at a number of sites if they meet a number of conditions that were negotiated by lawyers for the City of Edmonton, Edmonton Police Service, and the Coalition for Justice and Human Rights — a group that advocates on behalf of people living in tents in the city.
The injunction order followed public outcry and pushback from a number of social organizations about the EPS plan to remove between 118 and 135 structures at eight sites that police had deemed to be high risk, citing concern about criminal activity and risk of tent fires.