Police not in a rush to force us out, say housing advocates occupying Burnaby apartment
Posted July 19, 2016 9:43 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
BURNABY (NEWS 1130) – Housing advocates occupying an empty apartment block in Burnaby are speaking out for the first time since a developer won a court injunction ordering them to leave.
Members of “Alliance Against Displacement” have been inside the building on Imperial Street near Nelson Avenue since July 9th, as they push for a moratorium on so-called “demo-victions” in the city.
Dave Diewert with the group vows to stay until they are removed by force, but claims police don’t seem to be in any hurry to enforce the court order.
“We’ve been visited by the police every day since the injunction. They don’t seem to be at the point of wanting to enforce it. It’s not clear to us why the delay.”
Diewert says their “Anti-Imperial Squat” fulfills a desperate need.
“Over the course of 10 days, we probably had 10 to 12 different homeless people stay with us. This has become, in essence, Burnaby’s only homeless shelter because there isn’t really one here.”
Amacon, the owner of the building, intends to tear it down on August 1st. Crews tasked with removing hazardous materials from the site were supposed to begin that work yesterday, but were blocked by the occupiers.
