The occupation of a vacant apartment on Imperial Street by protesters has moved into its second week with no end in sight.
By Tuesday, members of Alliance Against Displacement were still occupying 5025 Imperial St. and continuing to demand the city put a moratorium on all demolitions of older rental buildings in the Metrotown area.
The group had also stepped up its efforts to stop Amacon Developments, which owns the property, from starting demolition work on three other buildings that are part of the new development under protest.
On Monday, members of the group kicked reps from Amacon out of a neighbouring building, while locking the door with a spike.
Dave Diewert, a member of Alliance Against Displacement, said the group secured the building to make it harder for the developer to carry on its work around them.
Last week, the B.C. Supreme Court granted Amacon an injunction that would allow police to remove the protesters from the building immediately.
However, in the days that have followed, police have stopped by the building several times but only to chat with squatters.
Members of Alliance Against Displacement began occupying the building on July 9 and have vowed to stay until they are forcibly removed.
The occupation is part of an ongoing battle between housing advocates and city hall over the issue of “demovictions.”
It remains unclear when police will enforce the injunction.
Burnaby RCMP told the NOW they were assessing and monitoring the situation daily but had nothing else to report.
“We’re here breaking the law because the law is criminal, the law is unjust, the law is harmful and violent,” Diewert said at a press gathering outside the building Tuesday, adding the demovictions are causing homelessness in Burnaby.
He noted about a dozen homeless people have stayed in the building.
DJ Larkin, a lawyer with Pivot Legal Society, was also at the site and argued the demolition of buildings and eviction of people without providing adequate replacement housing is a violation of human rights.
“The fact that Burnaby got away with passing a rezoning law that is within their jurisdiction, and technically legal and is now using that zoning law as an excuse to not engage with and not uphold their obligations as a municipality to protect the human rights of these tenants, means we need better laws,” she said.
Alliance Against Displacement also called on people facing future evictions in the neighbourhood to refuse to leave.
For Peter Pasanen, a senior living on a fixed income, the call to fight an eviction is too late.
He lived at 5025 Imperial St. for six years before getting an eviction notice and leaving for good in mid-June. Pasanen, a veteran, said he was lucky to find a new place a few blocks away, but his rent went up $200 a month.
He said he doesn’t buy the city’s argument that the issue is one for the provincial or federal government to fix, suggesting the municipality has the right to deny the rezoning application but refuses to do so.
“They’re supposed to be a socially conscious party, and they’re not being socially conscious; they’re being developer conscious,” he said.
