homelessness activist gets blasted with tear gas by Victoria police: A homelessness activist gets blasted with tear gas by Victoria police yesterday after he barricaded himself inside the long-abandoned Janion Building, located at the corner of Store Street and Pandora Avenue. Photograph by : Bruce Stotesbury, Times ColonPolice quell protest with tear gas

Officers arrest man barricaded inside abandoned building during homelessness demonstration

Jeff Bell
Times Colonist

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Victoria police officers, clad in protective gear, used tear gas to subdue a homelessness activist yesterday after he barricaded himself in a second-storey room in the long-abandoned Janion Building.

The dramatic afternoon incident at Store Street and Pandora Avenue was an offshoot of a noon-hour demonstration at the Victoria Conference Centre, where officials from around the province have gathered for the annual Union of B.C. Municipalities convention.

Close to 150 people had gathered outside the conference centre's main entrance to listen to a series of speeches on homelessness. Afterwards a smaller group marched toward the Streetlink Emergency Shelter on Store Street for a barbecue.

But there was also talk that an empty building near Streetlink would be occupied to protest homelessness, much like in Vancouver, where squatters have taken over an abandoned hotel on the Downtown Eastside.

The site of the Victoria occupation turned out to be the Janion, almost next door to Streetlink. A posh hotel when it opened in 1891, the Janion has been vacant for almost three decades. Owner Clara Beatrice Kramer has had offers to buy it but nothing has materialized over the years.

Up to a dozen people were rumoured to be inside when the marchers arrived.

A few dozen supporters stayed on to sing and yell encouragement outside the building for much of the afternoon, leading police to close the southbound lane on Store Street. A crowd also gathered on the sidewalk across the street, in front of Swans Hotel.

Police waited until the crowd had thinned before battering in a door at the front of the Janion.

After a blast of tear gas, a man inside stuck his head through a broken window overlooking the street, coughing and gagging. Police could be heard smashing and cutting their way into the room where he had hunkered down, and he was whisked into a waiting police vehicle. A team of officers searched the building for other squatters, but no one was found.

Victoria police Const. Rick Anthony said the old building is dangerous for anyone to be in, and officers had to take great care during their search.

"It was very solidly boarded up," he said. "[He] found a way in somehow but we will make sure it's better contained and secured from this point on."

It's clear that getting inside the Janion was thought out well in advance, Anthony said. "They had this obviously planned for a few days, at least."

Police had to consider a number of issues before taking action, he said. "We didn't know how many people were in there or if they were armed. If somebody breaks in and barricades himself in a building like that, you have to look at the worst-case scenario."

The man police found inside could be facing charges. "We had to forcibly remove somebody who broke in illegally. It's mischief to property."

Before police entered the building, a cellphone was sent inside and a negotiator tried to reason with the man.

"That fell on deaf ears," Anthony said.

He said most of the protesters who lingered until the end of the incident lost the focus of the original demonstration and were simply trying to get attention.

"A lot of what they were saying had nothing to do with homelessness, they were just calling us names and blaming us for these issues."

At the conference centre demonstration, groups like the Communities Solidarity Coalition and Together Against Poverty Society had joined forces to make a point to as many municipal officials as possible, said Art Farquharson, one of the organizers.

"I think we need to get the point across to the representatives of the municipalities that housing has to take precedence over things like the Olympics and highway development. It's an urban issue and it's a social-justice issue, let's just deal with it first and provide housing for the homeless," Farquharson said.

"You can have your Olympics, but let's get the basic stuff first."

View Royal Coun. Andrew Britton told the crowd that municipal government has a role to play in dealing with homelessness by promoting affordable housing. One way, he said, is to encourage safe, legal secondary suites.

"All levels of government -- municipal, provincial, federal -- have to work together to promote, achieve and have affordable housing for every resident in British Columbia."

At the federal level, the government should look at tax incentives and other means to get more affordable housing, said Denise Savoie, NDP MP for Victoria.

© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2006