‘We’re very shocked’: Businesses react to Victoria council plan to re-open Centennial Square for camping

The owner at Cherry Bomb Toys said it has been quiet just a few days after a homeless camp in Centennial Square was shut down.

“It’s been quieter, it’s been a sense of calm in a way,” said owner B. Woodward.

When council voted Thursday to look at tearing the fences at Centennial Square back down and allowing camping once again, the reaction was fierce among some members of the business community and the public.

READ MORE: Victoria city council proposes allowing camping in Centennial Square once again

“It’s mind-blowing and shocking,” Woodward said.

“We’re very shocked by that decision,” said Jeff Bray, president of the Downtown Victoria Business Association.

Even Victoria’s mayor, who voted against the idea along with Coun. Charlayne Thornton-Joe and Coun. Jeremy Loveday, is perplexed.

“I can’t explain it, it is bizarre,” said Mayor Lisa Helps.

The closure of the camp followed weeks of crime and violence in the square including two stabbings and a drug trafficking operation that now has 17 people facing charges.

READ MORE: Two downtown Victoria stabbings 5 minutes apart raise concerns

READ MORE: 10 arrested, 7 wanted for drug trafficking after undercover investigation in Centennial Square

But in the days since the closure, camps in surrounding neighborhoods, like Central Park, have been growing. That’s why Coun. Geoff Young says he suggested opening Centennial Square back up.

“Compared to all those other locations, all of which are bad locations, Centennial Square is frankly not a lot worse,” said Young, pointing out that the square is hard-surfaced, has washrooms and 24 hour security.

He also hopes it will make his fellow councillors rethink their support for 24/7 camping.

“I want the councillors themselves to be reminded every time they come to a council meeting, this is my decision, if I had voted differently this wouldn’t be happening here and frankly perhaps to see some of the really unpleasant and distressing things that have been reported to me as happening around the tent camps in the neighbourhoods,” Young said.

But the mayor isn’t a fan of that logic.

“I say that’s a very sad approach to governing the city. We are well aware of the issues, I hear daily from residents living in and around parks around the city,” said Helps.

And businesses already struggling to survive the COVID-19 pandemic say it may end up backfiring

“Just recognize that there are thousands of jobs in and around Centennial Square that are hanging in the balance and that those individuals, those employees who rely on that paycheque are one paycheque or two paycheques of themselves being homeless, so we have to balance this,” said Bray.

City staff will draft a bylaw that puts Centennial Square back on the camping list and council will take a final vote next week. Helps is hopeful that by then some councillors will have a change of heart.

“This is a business district, it’s where people are trying to make their livelihoods, there’s no good place for camping anywhere in any park in the city or the country for sure but downtown is probably the worst possible place and I’m going to stick firm on that and I hope other councillors will join me,” she said.

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