As of Wednesday, July 20, nobody has been evicted from People’s Park, and no fines have been handed out. As predicted, workers from the city showed up Wednesday morning, ready to put up fences around the area on Chebucto Road also known as Meagher Park. They left when a volunteer informed them there were still people sleeping at the site.
According to the city’s plan, it will close off the park once all the residents are gone. “Today is when the city will start to increase pressure on people to find alternative accommodations,” reads a post on the People’s Park Instagram page.
Of those who remained at People’s Park after Sunday’s eviction deadline, three have moved into hotels. Two were put in a hotel “so dilapidated and mouldy they’ve spent most of their time back at the park,” volunteer Calista Hills tells The Coast. She says one new resident arrived at the park two nights ago, and a former resident returned on Wednesday. Hills says there are currently two full-time and two part-time residents as of Wednesday.
According to the Instagram post, one individual returned to the park because it feels much safer than tenting “out alone in the woods,” and there are “still concerns” about the city’s approved tenting sites. “This has and continues to be a place where people feel that they are safer,” the post reads.
Volunteers are continuing to keep watch at People’s Park to make sure the city doesn’t put the fencing up while there are still residents living there.